Konoha High School
by Seraphic Melody
Summary: While at Konoha High, Kari soon faces things that every girl her age deals with: friends, grades - oh. And a boy named Uchiha Sasuke. What could go wrong? More than she ever expected! Sasuke x OC HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

I'll just say this once and only only-

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way. All its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. All I do own is my OC and any other characters I dream up.

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**Chapter 1 **

**Now Entering-- Konoha High School!**

Weightlessness.

Buoyancy.

Hikari figured these words were the only ones that could truly describe this feeling of freefalling from the sky.

She didn't even remember falling in the first place.

But here she was falling to her death - completely helpless.

The journey itself felt eternal, long-lasting, but the ad infinitum drop was probably just her imagination - her waning senses playing mind games with her.

It would only be moments before she came to her climax - her death.

'_This has to be it…_' she wondered.

Her breath grew hollow. Her pale lids slowly slid over her blue-gray irises.

'_Only a miracle can save me now…_'

And honestly, Hikari was not sure if there really **are** miracles.

…that is until at that moment.

"KARI!"

Her eyes struggled to remain open, resisting the murky shadows.

'_W…who… Who is that?_'

"Kari, hold on!"

"H…Help. Help me please…" the girl whispered as she felt herself dive in the darkness.

Suddenly the sensation ceased as gravity finally set in.

Did she fall? Is this what death feels like?

"Kari, I got you. You're safe now."

Her gray orbs fluttered open as she felt strong arms wrapped tightly around her frame. She slowly looked up to see her savior's face.

His countenance was veiled in the cover of the shadows, but she could faintly make out an outline of a face - his lips curved to a grin.

"T…thank you," she whispered, trying to regain her lost breath.

Just moments before she could hear his voice… a strange beeping sound aroused her from her dreamy state.

//=x=\\

"Mrghgrhaga…" mumbled the sleepy girl as she tried her very best to ignore the strident cacophony of her alarm clock.

During the first few moments, Hikari found the soundtrack remotely tolerable. She was much too tired to move and quiet it anyway.

As the beeps grew louder and louder, so did Hikari's irritation over the infernal timepiece. The girl finally released a low groan and rolled over to her side, hammering the snooze button with a lazy fist.

'_Finally! Silence at last…_'

The girl collapsed into her cottony comforter, feeling herself fall back into the inky abyss.

"Hikari?" a male voice asked the sleeping female. "Hikari, are you awake yet?"

Only silence replied to the man's queries.

She then heard the man release a ragged sigh and thought aloud, "I guess I was much too naïve to believe _that_ ultra annoying contraption would be more than enough to wake you, Kari…"

Kari squirmed in her place, burying her head under her fluffy pillow in order to block out the man's ramblings.

"Shrumpt Mraup…" a muffled version of the girl's voice mumbled tiredly.

"Maybe I was not as incorrect as I originally believed. It seems my clock actually _did_ awake you, but little Kari-chan is too lazy to move her ass out of bed," the man remarked as he seated himself beside her. "Okay. I'll give you to the count of three to get out… or else."

"Just go away!" she articulated with a little more clarity.

"**One**," he said, ignoring her demand.

Kari did not bother to respond.

"**Two**."

The girl released a low moan, pulling the covers over the pillow.

The man paused for a moment, awaiting for further response.

He shrugged, "Fine, Kari. You asked for it. **Three**…"

The weight suddenly disappeared from her side. Kari listened carefully as the man's footsteps sauntered right out of her quarters.

'_Oh thank you. That crazy old coot finally left…_'

…Or so she thought.

Before she could readjust herself to a more comfortable position, the lights suddenly snapped on. Her blanket was ripped from her grip.

"What the…?" Before she knew it, an icy, cold liquid was dumped all over her frame. "EEK!"

With her eyes wide open, Kari immediately leaped from her bed, her body drenched with the freezing liquid.

"Oh my god! I'm soaked!" she cried, watching as droplets of the icy liquid slithered down her pajamas and onto the floor.

"That's what you get for being such a lazy gal, Kari-chan…" muttered a tired, male voice.

Kari's head snapped towards the source of the sound, her steely-blue orbs narrowed into a heated glare.

The target of her harsh gaze was an older man with short, pointy white locks. A white mask concealed his nose and mouth. The one eye Kari was able to see in the veil of white hair remained fixated on a tiny salmon book. Her gaze then was attracted to a silver bucket that shone brightly in the fluorescent illumination.

"Hatake Kakashi, you are so cruel! How dare you dump a bucket of water on me?" she shouted vehemently.

"Good morning to you too, princess. I knew you would be simply ecstatic once I finally aroused you from your slumber," Kakashi replied in a nonchalant tone, unfazed by her apparent rage and simply turned a single page in his novel. "And please enlighten me on a more effective way I could have waken you up?"

"Well anything would have been better than that stupid bucket!"

"It really was your own fault, Kari-chan! If you only woken up when I beckoned earlier, you would not have felt the wrath of the silver bucket."

Kari opened her mouth to retort, but quickly closed it shut. She only replied with a loud grunt as she whipped her head away from the man, causing her long, wet tendrils to slap her right in the face.

'…_Ouch…_' she whimpered in her mind, trying ever so hard to ignore Kakashi's chuckles.

"You know, you really should be thanking me, Kari. Thanks to me, you don't have to worry yourself about showering!"

Upon hearing that statement, Kari's face contorted into a heated sneer, screaming that she would rather approach her personal hygiene in a different manner.

Kakashi simply shook his head. "Oh dear. By that ungrateful look on your wet face, it seems you still don't get it…"

All anger left Kari's visage as confusion took its place. As if to verify her already palpable perplexity over his remark, she blurted out an unintelligible, "Huh?"

Kakashi rolled an obsidian orb as he mumbled, "Do you even have an ounce of intelligence? Did you even retain anything I taught you the passed year?"

"What was that?!"

"Oh nothing!" Kakashi quickly stated, sidestepping the subject with such effortless grace that it annoyed the already cantankerous girl, who was too irritated to press the subject any further. "I just want you to think of what today is."

Kari followed her guardian's suggestions and contemplated for a moment.

Finally, realization hit her.

"OH MY GOD! Why didn't you wake me up earlier, uncle!?" she questioned, her steel-blue orbs wide with shock.

"One, you were sleeping like the hardheaded block of stone I know you are. Two, you were so busy yapping I couldn't have told you even if I wanted to."

"…just shut up."

"Just dry off and get dressed. I placed your uniform in the bathroom already, kay? So just hurry up. I don't want to be late for your first day of school."

"Yeah, yeah!" Kari said as she dashed into the bathroom.

Kakashi followed right behind her, ambling his way instead into the living room.

"OH. MY. GOD! Kaka-chan, what the hell is this?!" Kari yelled just as he sat on the couch.

"What is what, Kari?" he asked.

"THIS!" He slowly raised his head upward to see Kari standing right in front of him… holding a certain garment in her hand.

"You can't seriously be telling me that this _thing_ from the depths of the hell is actually the uniform for girls!"

Kakashi slowly shut his book closed as he met her shocked gaze. In a calm, even tone, he simply remarked. "Hikari, that _thing_ from the depths of hell, is just a **skirt**."

"And you know how much I hate skirts! This has to be some sick joke!"

"If I said it is, will you just put it on? We're going to be late because of your irritating prattle, Hi-chan."

"Fine! I'll demean myself and put this stupid thing on! Like you care, Uncle Kakashi…" she griped, shuffling her way back to the bathroom.

"Don't worry! I don't!" He called out, shaking his head. "I knew this would have been interesting…"

//=x=\\

"Uncle Kakashi, do I really have to go to high school _now_?" Kari asked as they neared the school vicinity.

"Yes, you must. We agreed I'd let you stay and teach you for one year. That year is now officially over. I even let you stay home for the first few weeks of school as compromise for your earlier gripes," Kakashi stated.

"But I feel ridiculous!" Kari stopped in her place, tugging her navy blue skirt down. "Just look at me, uncle! I look absurd."

"You look just fine, Hi-chan," Kakashi assured the girl. "You know, I still find it bizarre you would call me your uncle. We are not related in any way."

"But you had been in my life for so long, I consider you like family! You have to admit, we do share some sort of resemblance!"

"I suppose so. You so have the same colored hair as I, but I still say you look more like your father. You have his eyes after all," Kakashi pointed out.

Kari smiled as she replied, "And I've never been more proud! Well, you should know that you deserve the title of uncle since you were so kind as to take me in."

"Like I had a choice in the matter, Hikari," her guardian said.

Kari then inquired, "Where else could I have gone? It's not like I could have went home to father…"

Kari swallowed a large lump in her throat, her gaze falling downcast. Kakashi's features softened as he went to her side. "Ah, don't be like that, Kari. I thought you were over that now. That why I taught you at home for a whole year just so you could recover."

Kari shook her head as she replied, "Don't worry about it, Kakashi. I'll survive. I'm better now than how I was last year!"

The girl forced a smile on her face. As she endured Kakashi's meticulous scrutiny, she hoped that her small assurance was enough to appease her worried guardian.

Kari relaxed when she heard him release a tired sigh. "Okay whatever you say, my dear Hi-chan. Now if you are done with all of your drama, can we go inside now?"

Kari slowly played with the ends of her long gray tresses as she constructed her response. "Um, I suppose, but do I truly look presentable? I feel almost nude wearing this garment."

Kakashi assured the disgruntled Hikari, "You look wonderfully radiant, Kari. Just get your big butt moving."

"Fine! Let's continue the degradation."

Kakashi chuckled at her grumbling and continued forth.

Then there is was. Kari gasped. "Oh my god… Kaka-san? I… is that?"

"Yes, it is. Welcome to Konoha High, Hikari."

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Yep, this is a new story! Please be kind...

Anyway, thank you all for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Now Entering: Kikuchi Hikari!**

"Konoha High, a prestigious school that expects nothing, but the very best from its students. The curriculum always challenges the aspiring scholars to improve themselves and strive for excellence."

"And the most prominent teacher from their so-called fabulous team of instructors – Hatake Kakashi – provides inordinate and superfluous amounts of meaningless dialogue!" Kari cried.

Kakashi corrected, "That, my dear Kari, would really be called _**monologue**_. I also meant it to be a form of soliloquy. I would think even you, a simple-minded maiden, would be able to grasp such a simple concepts as that."

Kari grumbled her retort, "Whatever… monologue or not, I've heard that about a thousand times… Who are you even talking to? Not me I hope."

"It's none of your concern. Just keep moving, Hi-chan," Kakashi ordered, and Kari complied. The two figures walked through the droves of bustling adolescents and finally made their way inside the school building.

To Kari's dismay, most of the girls were clad in the same button shirt and glaring navy blue skirt.

'_I was seriously hoping that Kakashi was kidding around with me… Ugh! Evil school!_'

"Alright, Kari. Now you are going into the headmistress's office. While there, she will fill you in on everything you need to know," Kakashi informed her.

"Yes, I know, Kaka-san. You've told me that even more than the actual school. Can I go now?"

Kakashi did not reply immediately. His lazy dark eye gazed at Kari carefully, scrutinizing her general expression with the utmost care. Kari felt all air rush from her lungs. She held her breath.

"No…not yet, Hi-chan"

Kari blinked several times, tilting her head to a slight incline to accentuate that inquisitive look varnishing her rosy features. "Why the hell not?"

Kakashi then playfully admonished, "Stop fussing with your skirt already. If you yank on it anymore, it will probably slip off your skinny hips. I know you wouldn't want that happening, would you?"

The silvery haired female's heart pumped heat into her cheeks as she released the hem of her garment. Kari pouted her full lips and shouted, "Kaka-san! Don't joke about that sort of thing! You probably cursed me and my already unpromising day. For all I know, because of what you said, this bloody skirt really _**will**_ fall!"

His one eye seemed overcome with curiosity by her statement, but dared not press the subject any further… at least for that moment of time.

The snowy haired man instead chuckled. "I don't know why you have such a deep distaste for that garment. You look as cute as a button!" His one visible eye curved to a cheerful arced crescent, indicating a broad smile was appearing under his masked face.

Kari relaxed her pursed lips, chuckling. She never knew her uncle could act like a doting father.

"I offer no further comment concerning this topic. You look too happy right now, and I'll feel so bad if I ruin that pleasant expression," she said with a light grin gracing her lips. "Now is there anything else on your mind?"

Kakashi's eye slightly opened, pondering his word choice carefully. "Hmm… actually there really isn't anything on _my_ mind exactly. I am more curious to hear if anything is on _your_ mind."

His niece's lips pressed together to form a thin line. Her muscles grew tense.

Once she was able to relax her physical visage into barely a shadow of poise, she inquired, "What would be on my mind, Kakashi?"

"That's why I'm asking. What _would_ be on your mind?" He repeated. Kari swallowed a large lump wedged deep in her throat. Her breath felt stagnant. Was she truly _that_ transparent? She wanted to kept her troubles a secret. Was she truly ready to divulge her everything now?

"Well, Hikari? Is there anything bothering you?" He asked again.

Kari swallowed once more before opening her mouth to reply.

"Oh, I am just fine, Kakashi! You worry too much, you know?" She assured him in a slightly shaky voice. The only thing she could think of that could possibly conceal her unease was a brilliant smile. After all, smiles always made everything better… right? "Now if I passed this examination, will you allow me passage? I am a very busy girl, you know."

Kakashi's one visible eye blinked several times, taken aback by that one statement. As ennui overtook his general expression, Hikari mentally cursed herself. She knew that Kakashi would not pry into her problems. He certainly was not the type to duress the info out of her or use deceptive guile, which she was certain he possessed, to procure it from her lips.

He was far above that. Kakashi knew when she was comfortable, she would tell him.

The most emotion she was able to perceive on his typically somnolent face was a flicker of disappointment. He surely must have thought her answer was rather anticlimactic.

"Okay, Hi-chan. If you say so. You can go on inside. I apologize for wasting your time."

Kari nodded her head in acceptance and sauntered inside the office.

'…_Phew. At that problem is averted. Now I have to deal with this one. This one should be easier to deal with._'

Once she motivated herself to move passed this next challenge, a woman materialized before her, her thin lips curved to a light smile.

"Hello there! How may I help you?" she asked, brushing a short dark lock from her charcoal eyes.

Kari felt her whole body froze. So much for confidence… The silvery-haired girl glanced back to the doorway, not seeing even a silhouette of her indolent guardian.

'_And so much for being supportive on my first day!_'

Her aqueous gray orbs slowly met the woman's questioning black irises. She cleared her throat and replied, "Oh, I just came by to see…"

The shorthaired woman released a low gasp of understanding, interrupting the girl's speech completely. "Oh, yes! You must be the new student Kakashi-san told us about. Come in! Come in! Our school's headmistress is inside here. We both have been anticipating your arrival."

The dark-haired woman gestured the young adolescent to follow her, heading inside yet another doorway. The silver-haired girl politely nodded her head and ambled her way inside the threshold of the new room.

"Oh, Tsunade-sama!" The woman beckoned for her senior.

"Yes, Shizune? What is it?" The woman known as Tsunade replied, twirling to face them on her chair. Her golden locks were tied in loose ponytails and her general appearance revealed an age much younger than Kari initially expected.

'_By the way Kaka-san described her, she should be an old hag by now. Wow… plastic surgery these days! They even make the oldest of prunes appear young!_'

"Please tell me you don't have anymore of those stupid papers for me? Can't you just say they're fine to begin with? Better yet, Shizune, just forge my signature so I don't have to see another stack again!"

"For one thing, I believe forgery is _illegal_," stated Shizune, feeling a watery droplet of perspiration slither down her neck. Kari was just in unadulterated shock.

'_Oh… wow. To think this is supposed to be a 'prestigious school'… how can it still be standing with someone with that attitude?_'

"Secondly, I don't have any paperwork at this moment," the secretary added.

Tsunade then raised a thin brow. "Then what do you want from me? The school's not bursting into flames. I'm not really needed."

"A contraire! I have someone here that really does need to see you…"

"Ah. Now I think I understand," Tsunade murmured, her gaze descending on the girl, silvery blue irises floating in a sea of white sclera. "Kikuchi Hikari… oh, it's splendid to finally meet our newest addition! Um… just so you know all that stuff I said? That was a silly little joke Shizune and I share! Please discount every little piece of it!"

"Oh, you don't worry. I will," assured the young girl. She was much too traumatized by the elder woman's apparant disinterest to tell a soul. "But please, call me, Kari."

"Alright. Thank you, Kari-san," Tsunade said, drawing in a relieved inhale, comforted by the fact that there won't be lawsuits in the distant future. As the blonde regained her lost composure, her general countenance softened. "My… don't you two look alike?"

"I know," chirped Shizune, "Even though they are unrelated, Kakashi-san and Kari-chan could pull off some sort of relation!"

"Oh yeah! That too. The shade of Kari-san's locks is almost the exact same tint as Kakashi-san," cried Tsunade, her eyes alight by that simple realization. "But that was not what I was referring to."

"Oh? Then what were you thinking of then?"

"I just thought that the semblance she and her father share is uncanny. They even have the same similar piercing blue-gray eyes."

Shizune nodded in deep agreement while Kari felt all the blood rush to her rosy cheeks.

"Oh, sorry about that. You're not here to listen to the both of us chatter about such trifle details," Tsunade said, clearing her throat. "Allow me to offer formal introductions. My name is Tsunade, and I am the headmistress of Konoha High School. This lady that stands besides you is Shizune - my second-in-command and personal secretary."

"Well if I didn't, you would probably be indulging your bibulous appetite until you drunk yourself into a stupor…" murmured the short-haired woman, ignoring the irritated glower her superior shot her.

"Anyway, now we got that out of the way, here are the things I believe you need: your schedule and a map of the school," the headmistress stated, handing the girl the specified paperwork. "I believe that would be enough to get you by until you reach your first period class. By then, I think you will already have met the student that will help you throughout the day."

"Wait... Student? What's that supposed to mean?" asked the silvery-eyed girl, her glittery irises sparkling with curiosity at the very phrase.

"Well we have a student volunteer who will guide you throughout day, give you a general tour of our school, and answer any questions you may have."

"Any other concerns right now?" asked her assistant.

Kari shook her head, flipping between the two sheets of paper. "No, I think I'll be fine. So what's the kid like?"

"Who?"

"You know! That person that was supposed to be my froshy 'supervisor'."

"Oh... Well that's an interesting way to call it," the headmistress murmured before replying in a more articulate voice, "Well, you'll see. This is one of our most prized students. I think there won't be too much trouble."

Shizune glanced over to the blonde woman with an inquiring look in her eye. Tsunade remained unruffled, offering nothing more than a light smile.

"Well if you say so. I always did enjoy a good surprise!" grinned the young scholar.

"Oh this would be one good surprise for you--- ouch!" Shizune yelped when Tsunade's elbow made contact with her secretary's slender arms.

"Now you better get to class, Kikuchi-San. I don't want you to be late," the headmistress said.

Shizune shot her a look of total disbelief. "You're worried _**she**_ would be--- OW!"

"Now run along. Just ignore anything if not everything my silly assistant has to say. It's nothing that should concern you! She's just has a few issues upstairs if you know what I mean…"

"Um, yeah. Okay, see ya," Kari said with a slight bow. She quickly dashed out the door, wishing to be away of that strange old lady and her quirky secretary.

'_Her secretary is not the only one with problems. With great age comes with even greater senility, I suppose… Crazy ladies…_'

When both women were sure their newest student had fully escaped from the midst, Shizune glanced over to Tsunade.

"What's with that '_oh-I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that_' look?" asked Tsunade.

"It's nothing like that at all. I'm just wondering how you could fill that poor child with such lies…"

"Ah! The gaze of disappointment! I know that look so well!"

Shizune simply strengthened her glare, extricating a tired sigh from the blonde's lips.

"Well, in some respects, my statements are true. Her 'froshy supervisor', as she so aptly called it, _is_ one of our most valued students, and the teacher would be upset if one of his students were tardy... Even if he himself is infamous for his own unpunctuality," countered the blonde-haired woman. "Besides, those are just the little eccentric parts of our institution she needs to learn herself!"

The brunette simply sighed. "I suppose some surprises would be alright, but I don't want to scare her on her very first day of school..."

"Oh, you worry too much! I know Kari-chan would be just fine. She is a Kikuchi after all. They're pretty tough you know."

"Kikuchi... Oh dear... Is she from the---" Shizune felt her words trail off as the headmistress nodded her blonde head. "She is a very lucky girl, isn't she then, Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde woman chuckled under her breath. "Oh, I think she would be even luckier if she survived the day!"

//=x=\\

Meanwhile, the said Kikuchi walked down the near empty hallways, her mind deep in her own thoughts, when all of a sudden, she released a rousing sneeze. "AH-CHOO!"

Kari sniffled, almost automatically recalling the sneezing superstition.

"Yeah! I doubt anyone's talking about me! How silly!" She wryly chuckled before reverting her attention back to her original thoughts. "Boy… Did Kaka-san nail me…"

Kakashi always did have this innate ability to see things Kari did not want others to see. The lazy man was correct. Underneath the smiles, the veneer of general poise, Kari was worried out of her poor mind. The reason for her discontent?

'_That stupid dream has to cause me so much problems! Why!?_'

She never did have those types of dreams before. Everything just felt so real… like she truly _was_ falling right out from the sky.

'_Does it even _mean_ anything?_'

Should she consider her dream an omen of sorts? Should she concern herself of the events that may transpire that day?

Was she going to fall in the physical sense? Or was it foreboding of a plunge in the metaphorical sense?

Kari quickly shook herself of her musings and reverted her attention to the map. She did have other issues that required her attention. She shouldn't worry about her dream. She was just overreacting!

The silver female dropped her gaze down towards her given map. "I hope I'm reading this right. I mean, how do I know this isn't upside down?"

Kari swallowed hard, realizing she did not. She sporadically looked up from her map to the winding hall, searching for some sort of landmark that confirmed she was heading towards the accurate direction.

Her spirits slowly fell when she saw absolutely nothing. '_It's official. I just can't read things like maps!! I really am hopeless…_'

With her gaze firmly absorbed on the paper, she paid no heed to the patter of footsteps...

'_Okay, do I make a left turn or do I keep going straight?_' The young Kikuchi wondered, completely oblivious to all sounds that encircled her...Or did she even pay any attention to a certain person that ran right for her.

"GET OUT Of THE WAY!"

Curious by the noise, Kari raised her head. "Huh--- WHOA!"

Everything went much too fast for Kari to react. Before she had time to get out of the way and dodge the incoming person, she fell right onto the floor… with the person lying right on top of her. Both their stuff flew all around the empty hallway.

"Ow... What happened?" She wondered aloud, finding her silvery orbs attracted to a pair of coal irises...

* * *

Just exactly is the mysterious person she rammed into? Does her dream really do mean anything?

I guess you have to wait for the next one to find out!

Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope it's not completely awful..


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

**Entering: The Unsettling Meeting**

All was so very still. Not a single sound escaped the two figures. A girl with colorless, gray tendrils lay on the cold tiles floorings of her new high school, staring at the boy that lay before her.

The boy himself held very distinct physical features - midnight black locks, deep obsidian orbs, and a similar confused look glazed his countenance.  
The two did not move from their awkward positions, trying earnestly to collect themselves and figure out what happened.

Suddenly everything clicked in their minds.

"Hey, jerk! Can you get off of me?" Kari snapped, glaring at the boy fiercely.

The boy grunted his retort, quickly jumping to his feet. Kari followed suit, climbing to her own two feet and wiping off any dust that clung to her new and horrendous uniform.

"So what was the matter with you? Do you suffer from hearing impairment?" The dark-haired boy asked languidly, his eyes narrowed into a cold sneer.

Kari twitched. An angry nerve pulsated from her pallid temple. She could not belief what she was just hearing. "Me?! What's the matter with you? I had the right of way. I wasn't looking!"

"Huh. Well I guess the fault falls on you for not paying attention then."

"No way! It's your stupid fault! I was looking at a freakin' map for god's sakes!"

This final statement almost instigated a heated glaring match, but another realization flooded into her clear oceanic gray orbs...

"Map…?" She repeated softly, dropping her gaze to the floor. "Oh my god…"

Everything was scattered over the floors: the books the dark-haired male carried and papers of all sorts... Most likely including the silver-haired girl's potent papers.

"Now look what you did!" The two shouted, bending over to scoop up all their papers.

"Oh no! Kid, don't get me started with all that crap! I'm going to be late because of you!" Kari exclaimed, shuffling through the paper to locate her specific ones.

"Maybe if you'd stop messing all of my stuff, then I wouldn't be late!" he scowled, retrieving the fallen parchments from the floors.

Moments went by in furious silence ad Kari found her schedule and the obsidian-eyed male collected all of his items. Once both scholars accumulated all their respected belongings and cleaned themselves accordingly, their gazes – torrential oceanic orbs locked on a pair of smoldering dark irises – narrowed into heated glowers.

"Now, if you would excuse me, I have to get to class," he said with an irritated tone of voice.

She replied, "I hope so. I can't stand seeing your face any longer!"

Grumbling incoherent curses under his breath, the mysterious boy pushed his way passed her, nearly knocking Kari off her feet.

Kari's face was bright red, gazing hotly at the boy's white shirt as he stormed off.

"Donkey-butt!!"

She breathed heavily, trying to collect her frazzled wits. Her glare remained fixated on the waning piece of white cloth.

Suddenly her muscles relaxed. _'Whoa. Wait a sec - Did I just say... DONKEY-BUTT?!_'

Amused by the thought, a low chuckle erupted from her pale throat. As moments passed, Kari's hilarity slowly increased, eclipsing all other rational thoughts... or allow her any consciousness of a certain spectator that may be within the vicinity, perceiving the youthful Kikuchi as a lunatic if not, at the very least, on the verge of mental instability.

Still consumed with laughter, Kari dropped her silvery orbs down towards her piece of paper.

A startling realization struck as she observed the number of papers in her hand. There was exactly one paper - a schedule she already surmised at an earlier time.  
The problem was that her mind recalled that the headmistress handed her a **PAIR **of papers, exactly two pieces of paper.

Her laughter slowly waned. Her eyes widened into silvery plates.

'_This _**can't**_ be happening..._'

Wishing to be optimistic of the dilemma at hand, the vexed silver female turned her lone schedule into all sorts of directions. No matter how many ways she angled the simple white sheet, the other side remained totally unblemished and utterly blank.

'_I refuse this to be true!_' She thought obstinately in her mind, allowing her gaze to fall downcast towards the pristine white tiles.

After a rigorous search... she found absolutely nothing.

Kari dropped her head, feeling herself succumb to defeat. How could she lose such an important document? She would much rather rid herself of the insignificant piece of parchment than lose her map.

As her troubled mind fell into the dark, brooding depths of self-pity, she mentally evoked one possibility...

"That jerk!" She raised her head from the abysmal chasm, sneering out into space as her mind conjured the boy's striking appearance. "He probably has my map - the one thing that I actually need!"

That spiteful dark-haired boy must be the culprit. Who else would hold such indignation and take a new student's papers?

'_I hope I never have to see his face again... B-stard.._.'

She then gazed back to her lone schedule, which only stated the number of the rooms she was to attend for each class.

She drew in a weary breath, shrugging her shoulders. "A girl has to do what a girl has to do..."

With her gaze firmly in search of the specific number plate, Kari moved forth...

'_Maybe finding my room won't be that hard... Right?_'

//=x=\\

"Oh my god!" she moaned happily, feeling rivulets of imaginary tears trace her flushed cheeks. "I finally found you!"

She looked down to her schedule to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her. That would only demonstrate that she truly has a fallible sense of direction.

"Phew… this really is the right room!"

Poor Kari learned that locating her fist class was much harder than she predicted. She found herself aimlessly shuffling the empty halls, not seeing her elusive classroom anywhere in sight.

Turns out, every time she ambled her way through that hallway, Hikari would simply miss it, looking the other way or just too busy pitying her predicament to see it.

"I really must be blind to miss this," she thought aloud and feeling a watery droplet of perspiration dripping down the nape of her neck. "I guess I should just head inside..."  
Kari slowly turned the knob and stepped forward, already concocting an excuse for her unpunctuality to her disgruntled teacher.

"Sorry, sensei! I'm a new student and I got..." She allowed her sentence to trail off all words slurring to an incoherent mumble. "…lost?"  
Her whole body refused further movement, processing her timing.

Her silvery blue orbs glanced at the clock. She was surely late. As she neared the classroom's door, the bell already sounded its grating blare.

'_Okay. __The bell already rang, and teacher is nowhere in sight. How does that work?_'

Kari resurfaced to reality when the door slowly closed shut, a male voice bleeding through her deep contemplation.

"Sorry, class," a deep voice apologized, "I seemed to have gotten lost on the winding hallways of life!"

"How many times have I heard that?" grumbled one of his students, but the young girl was dubious the man paid any heed to it.

Kari just found herself immediately intrigued. That languid, male voice... That evidently trite, groundless excuse... Could it be?

She gradually turned around, her oceanic silver orbs locking with a single black eye.

"Kakashi-san?" she murmured quietly, struck by an overwhelming sense of surprise. "_**You're **_my teacher?"

"And I'm glad to see you too, but I would think any normal student would at least offer their sensei with a decent salutation."

"Oh, um... Sorry, Kaka-sensei," Kari squeaked out, repressing her customary petulant retorts. "If I may, why did you let me go through all that trouble? You knew you were my first period teacher. You could have easily given me everything that crazy woman gave me."

He simply replied, "Just going through all the procedures. I want you to be treated like an ordinary student, and that means you much meet with the principal and procure your papers there."

Kari nodded, dropping her head just enough to conceal the irritated twitch of her delicate brow. She knew always did know that her dear uncle was lazy...

"So, my new sensei, you're not going to make me undergo the torture every new student faces?" she asked, collecting her wits from her irritated mindset.

"Can I ask what exactly that is?"

"Don't play dumb! You know what I'm talking about. You're not going to let me suffer the humiliation of introducing me in front of everyone, right?"

"Why would I force you to endure such torment?"

"Well... You can be quite… _sadistic_ when the time calls for it. I'm ashamed already and my ego does not need further wounding," she grumbled, daintily pulling at the end of her garment, answering how else her pride was degraded to an even lower, more pitiful level. "Seriously, this thing could only be produced from the source of the all iniquity and malevolence!"

"Discounting that controversial statement, you shouldn't worry yourself. I will make sure you are as comfortable as possible," he replied, his gaze dipping back towards his tiny pink novel in his hands.

Kari released a grateful exhale. "Oh thank you! You have no idea how much that means to me..."

As Kakashi indolently nodded his head, Kari began thinking he was not as bad as she expected him to act - no longer befitting of the title of '_sadist_'. Well, Kari would not go as far as benevolent, but surely something more along the lines of 'lacking sympathy'.

"Class, listen up! We have a new student!"

The silver-haired girl felt her muscles grow taut. All incessant chatter ceased. As she slowly turned her watery gray eyes towards the rows of students that rose before her, she noticed all eyes were fixated on her tiny frame.

Kari was in complete disbelief. Kakashi did not just do what she thought he did!

"This is Kikuchi Hikari. I hope you make our newest addition as comfortable as possible."

The said Kikuchi female slowly raised her voice, discovering she was more speaking to the congregation than to her instructor. "If I may, please address me as Kari. Kari would happily suffice."

The annoyed girl slowly glanced over to the white-haired adult, implementing the most withering glare she could project in that moment. Kakashi seemed immune to the glower or was too engrossed in his novel to notice. Kari thought the latter to be more accurate.

"Alright, Kikuchi-San. You can take a seat by the empty one near the window," Kakashi informed her, ambling towards his own desk.

Kari curtly nodded her head and made her way through the aisles, grumbling crossly to herself. She had just found her earlier notion to be completely erroneous. Her snowy haired uncle was still the malevolent sadist that she grew to both hate and love.

Through her fuming over Kakashi's cruelty, Kari observed how many populations of the female gender gawked at their newest colleague, their gazes colored with horror. Some even had the temerity to sneer at her.

'_Wow. At least I know the girls in this class are oh so very welcoming..._'

What was the matter with these girls anyway? There was no reason for them to treat her in such an odd manner... Or so she thought.

As Kari followed the curve towards her newest seat, she felt herself abruptly halt. Her steel-blue orbs nearly rocketed from her sockets. Her mouth threatened to slack and plummet through the school tiles.

Her shocked gaze was met with a pair of equally shocked, inconceivably and irrefutably, dark eyes.

The boy shot up from his seat.

"YOU!?!?" They both exclaimed, shooting their pointer fingers toward each other.

* * *

Yep.... I have no idea what to say right now, but thanks for reading! I truly appreciate it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Entering: Uchiha Sasuke**

"Kikuchi-San, is there a problem?" the class instructor inquired, lazily gazing at the two students, their hands outstretched and accusingly pointing at the opposing person. Steely blue irises bored into a pair of smoldering ebony.

"I'll tell me my problem, Kaka-sensei," the female spoke up as they both lowered their arms. "I refuse to sit next to that... _**Thing**_! Can you please assign me to a different seat?"

"I highly agree with that statement," the dark-haired boy said.

Several classmates were rendered in a sheer state of awe. Many of their mouths fell wide-open while the majority of the girls in the class felt their lips curve to bright grins.

Kakashi remained completely skeptical, raising a pale eyebrow at the suggestion. "Oh? Please enlighten me why you shouldn't sit in the only available seat we have in this classroom?"

"Because," Kari began, glancing a scornful glower towards the sneering boy, "That _guy_ has to be the biggest jerk I ever had the misfortune of meeting. I'd rather much sit in the floor then sit next to _him_."

"I second that motion," the boy upheld with great fervor.

"Overruled. Now, since we have wasted enough class time and I am much too tired to listen to both of your issues, which I am aware is numerous, Kikuchi-San, please sit down," Kakashi ordered. "Sitting next to Uchiha Sasuke will not be the death of you."

"That's what you think," she murmured quietly under her breath, slowly sliding herself into the desk. Throughout the rest of the period, the silver-haired female remained fixated on one thought: wondering how cruel her uncle is and will be for the rest of the semester.

She remained oblivious to the lesson the white-haired instructor began teaching the class... And even the curious gaze emanating from a pair of shining obsidian.

//=x=\\

At the sound of the school's liberating bells, Kari swept her newly obtained books off from her desk and rushed out the classroom door.

'_Alright! One arduous class down. I can totally get through this one day,_' the young silver-haired female deliberated cheerily in her thoughts, lifting her worn soul up from the dismal abyss. '_Nothing can bring me down!_'

"Hey, moron," an impassive voice spoke up. Kari felt her whole being grow taut, her head slowly turning to face an emotionless veneer. She mentally cursed herself, deigning she had thought too soon.

"Oh, hello, cretin. What may I have the misfortune of your unwanted presence?" she replied indignantly.

Sasuke drew in an copious amount of air, repressing his automatic impulse to retort with some sort of derision. Though clouded by his bubbling irritation, he ignored the girl's remark and inquired calmly, "You're name is Kikuchi Hikari, correct?"

"Hmm... Let me think? I believe I had that name ever since birth so… yes," Kari replied sarcastically, her silvery orbs rotating in a full circle. The raven-haired male, who followed her brisk steps with ease, replied with a withering glower. "And your name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Suddenly, piquing her curiosity, the Uchiha boy's expression softened, his dark brow knitting together.

"Ak... I don't strike a cord of familiarity?" he queried, his voice soft and... Almost hurt?

Kari quickly shook her silver head, dismissing that mistake from her thoughts. She was just overreacting. There was no reason for some guy, whom she was certain she never met before, to be offended by that obvious statement.

"No... I would think I would remember an annoying guy like you."

Sasuke opened his mouth as if to dispute with her statement, but exhaled a weary sigh. "...Never mind. My mistake..."

His facial expression hardened back to a stoical mask, his gaze firmly set on some unknown object before them.

The steely-blue eyed female dismissed any inquisitive notions rushing through her mind and continued walking the halls. Even though she concentrated on reaching her next classroom, she could not help but take note a patter of footsteps harmonizing with her quick steps.

Kari at first did not mind to the sound. She just quickened her pace accordingly, hoping her follower was simply migrating towards a similar direction. When the footsteps increased with her speed, with noted effortlessness, Kari brusquely halted in her place.

Her silvery sapphires whipped towards the empty sable irises, which seemed to pause at a similar time.

"Okay, stalker boy, I don't know if you're just trying to tick me off any further or what, but can you please leave me alone? Have I endured enough anguish in a matter of one class period?"

"Hn. Well if you really must know, I can't," the Uchiha replied, his words laced with venomous annoyance over that agonizing fact and probably over her general outburst.

"Why the hell not?!" Kari asked vehemently.

The dark-haired male released a low snort. "Are you truly _that_ ignorant?"

Seeing that befuddled, yet palpable rage thrashing in her torrential orbs, Sasuke confirmed his statement in his mind.

He rolled his obsidian orbs before elucidating further on the subject. "If you are truly as simple-minded as I believe you to be then let me offer clarification."

"I don't think I would want to know if you keep talking in such an overly elaborate manner. Just get to the point already," she grumbled crossly under her breath.

Sasuke completely discredited her grumblings and resumed with his terse explanation. "I am to be your escort for the day."

Kari's jaw slacked, dropping slightly ajar. "No freakin' way! How could you be my froshy supervisor?"

Sasuke gawked at her for just a few moments, taken aback by the interesting phrase she coined his awful job. His overall veneer reverted to his usual stoic expression, his voice growing harsher. "It's not like I had a choice in the matter. Our principal forced me to do it. I am probably even more displeased by this arrangement than you are."

The silver female resisted the urge to bawl into tears, keeping those disconcerting emotions within. She instead quickly collected her misconstrued wits and griped, "I believe you're mistaken. I'm certainly just _miserable _right now."

Sasuke grunted in response, resuming forward. Not wishing to be left behind, Kari quickly trotted after him.

"So... Just how long do I have to enjoy the "_splendor"_ of your company?"

The ebony Uchiha ruminated his word choice carefully before settling for a cryptic reply. "Our headmistress mandates my presence only when we share class."

Kari furrowed her pale brows and asked, "Okay… Just how many classes _do_ we share?"

His midnight black irises gazed at her for a few long moments before he deterred from her curious oceanic gray spheres. Kari was fairly patient at first, awaiting further response from the silent Uchiha

As moments went by without a proper answer, Kari felt her fists clench. She gritted her teeth.

"Yo! Do you plan on answering me in _this_ lifetime or shall we wait until you croak, mostly likely, by my hands?"

Sasuke shot his insolent companion a harsh glare - rage and malice radiating from his molten, dark orbs. Kari felt her body cringe at the unsettling sight and fought tenaciously to regain her fallen composure.

"W...well? What do you have to say?" She queried with a weak voice.

A contemptuous grin managed to break through his impassive expression, inciting Kari's overall rage to increase in a gradual speed.

Even though the smirk was fleeting, Sasuke's eyes retained a condescending luster. He then replied in a rather amused tone, "I honestly rather not divulge such unsettling info. I myself am already upset over it. Considering your general personality, you would be even more outraged by the set-up. Then I would get extremely annoyed, and I would not want to subject myself to such tribulation."

"I'll show you tribulation if you don't stop answering so ambiguously," she threatened, her aqueous orbs darkening into a terrifying hurricane.

Sasuke considered that statement and grunted. "Hn. True... Either way I'll be annoyed so why not? **We almost have every class together**."

Kari felt her heart nearly cease beating. She could not believe those words were true. '._..Every class?_'

As her mind repeated that phrase endlessly, almost as if to taunt her over the painful ordeal, the silver girl dropped her face into her hands - all as to attempt to quiet the scream that leaked from her throat.

Once she felt confident she wouldn't break out into possible hysteria, Kari lifted her face, articulating indistinctly, "Stupid senile woman... She must love inducing such torture on her students."

"Kikuchi, you never let me finish," Sasuke said, referring Hikari by her surname. "I never did say we had _**every class**_."

With her eyes alight by that small phrase of hope, she asked brightly, "Really?!"

The Uchiha nodded his head. "Yeah. We are apart for only one class," he growled, his blatant anger directed more to their flighty headmistress then his forced companion.

"So when is that blessed separation? I hope it's soon."

"It's actually the last class of the day."

Kari nodded her head in consideration. "Well… That's not that awful."

She tried her with all her power to look at the situation with some sort of positive insight… which she felt was pitifully little. The only emotion that she was sure was viable was her growing distaste for her new principal.

"But why must you babysit me at all times? I don't think she would be aware if you left me to my splendid lonesome."

"Hn. You have no idea how wrong that is. The woman may seem senile, but she has this strange gift – or curse if you will – to know when something's amiss. Under that seemingly fickle exterior lies a soul of malice and deception. How else did she force me to do this denigrating job?"

"By the sound of it, you didn't exactly volunteer like she told me."

Under the incoherent grumble of swears directed towards their blonde headmistress, Sasuke revealed that she really tricked him into acceptance. No other student was willing to take on such a job. The only other factor that helped him accept the job was a threat, something he certainly did not want to discover if he did not comply or follow through with her demands.

"Isn't that illegal?" Kari asked, shocked by the fact that Tsunade was wilier than her nonchalant exterior insisted.

"Who knows and I don't really think it matters now," Sasuke shrugged.

Kari griped under her breath, "I don't understand why I actually _need_ some despicable babysitter. I can handle myself!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Oh really? I don't see how a shrimp like you could take care of anything, let alone yourself."

The silver girl felt her temper flare. Her orbs deepened into a stormy blue. Whether the stoic Uchiha knew it or not, he had struck the female's most sensitive nerve.

Kari asserted, "Yes I can! Just because I am short, does not mean I can't handle myself! If I actually was in possession of my missing map, I would be far from you and your foul attitude!"

"What the hell are you talking about? You actually were idiotic enough to lose your map?" He asked, his obsidian spheres alight with amusement over that fact.

Flustered, Kari stammered wildly, unable to convey her explicit and unequivocal frustration into intelligible words and phrases.

"I don't need to answer that, Uchiha!" She finally shouted, losing all will to refute.

"What? No further name-calling? I would love to hear what other original names you would throw at me," Sasuke mocked, evoking the hysterical moment in her mind.

Rage deluged into her now perceptibly navy blue eyes. She could not believe he really heard. "Just shut up already!"

"Alright, fine. I poked enough fun for one day. Now if you're done ranting like a harebrained nutcase, we have to get to class," he mumbled. Sasuke continued walking forward – his expression void of all emotion - while the angry Kikuchi, stormed behind him, wishing him to disintegrate into a pile of molten ash.

* * *

Thank you for reading! I hope it wasn't awful...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Entering: Enmities and Amities!**

The day continued in such an agonizing way that poor Kari was uncertain whether her imminent demise would arrive swiftly or torment her body with further misery until she no longer moved.

Sasuke truly meant it when he told her to follow him carefully. She gawked at his movements – all precise and swift… much too quick for her taste.

Throughout the entire day, Kari thought his stride was ruthless. He _did_ do as Tsunade instructed him - guide the Kikuchi girl around the school and offer her some form of enlightenment.

His brisk pace and overall detachment was his own augmentation to the ordeal. If the rapidity of the day would not kill her, she was certain Uchiha Sasuke and his iciness would. Such a pain to her side. How she wished to strangle his throat...

But did she have a choice? Her map had suddenly disappeared, a fact she forced herself to admit. It would have only fueled her distaste for the raven-haired male, which she deigned as unnecessary. She already found him increasingly unpleasant without that fib anyway.

Whether she wanted to admit it as fact, or continue obliviousness, Kari needed Sasuke's guidance, or risk getting lost in Konoha's winding hallways. To her, the entire school seemed like a maze, something she could never navigate.

"Now how are you holding up?" Sasuke later asked as they passed the newest threshold.

The silvery female straightened her worn spine, and forced her tender soles to commence in a more powerful stride as she crossed the gray tiles, speckled with rivulets of white.

Kari dared not show even a tinge of weakness. She felt she needed to conceal her weariness from his mocking eyes to preserve her dignity.

She replied hardily, "I am just fine! Why would this simple walk wear me out? I'm strong enough to handle something as painless as this."

He raised one brow, watching as Kari drew a tremendous amount of air into her lungs, straightening her already straight back to an unnecessary height. To him, she seemed like an overly blown up balloon... just waiting to pop.

Just as that thought ran through his mind, enticing him to burst the silvery bubble, he simply shook his head. After all, if he really wanted her hot air balloon to deflate, he needed to pick the perfect time.

"Whatever... We're here."

Kari forced her attention away from her escort and towards the newest room.

"Ooh! Finally! Lunch!" She squealed, sweeping the area with ravenous eyes. "That's great because I am _starving_!"

"Yes, this is the cafeteria room, and I doubt I need to explain what it's used for. You can sit wherever you want. I don't really care," he languidly said.

"Wait! That means we can separate?!" Kari asked excitedly, her bright orbs flaring with anticipation.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, wouldn't give a damn if we separate to eat. I don't know about you, but I don't think you need to be escorted to the lunch line to retrieve food. Of course, I do find myself questioning your intellect…"

"If you would just shut your mouth now, I will pretend I never heard you and just get my food like a good little girl that I am."

"Good, huh? Whatever delusions fancy you…"

After receiving the silvery female's angry glare, Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, nodded his head, and allowed the female Kikuchi to leave from his wake.

Once Kari took her place in the winding queue, she released a relieved exhale. All her muscles relaxed.

She didn't know how long she could have kept up with that charade. She was straining herself far beyond her pretending limits.

Her legs ached. Her whole being was worn down to a squishy pulp. If Sasuke even caught a glimpse of her fatigue, she would have to endure ridicule she was too tired to face.

She also had only remnants of her personal pride and dignity. Her skirt was already slowly stripping her of self-respect. She didn't need Sasuke adding to the humiliation.

How she hoped Sasuke bought into her façade… but she wondered what are the chances of that?

'_I guess I shouldn't worry myself about something like that! All I should think about is the food… and how finally I'm away from __**that**__ idiot._'

"Oh, and Kikuchi?" A voice said in her surprised ear. Its warm breath fanned over Kari's neck, forcing her to leap up into the air. The frightened female bit down on her bottom lip, suppressing a strident, terror-filled scream.

"Oh my god. What do you want now, _Uchiha_?" She snarled in a breathy voice, addressing the dark-haired male by his surname as a form of spite. Her heart palpitated wildly. Tiny rivulets of blood seeped into her mouth, giving her tongue an unsettling iron taste.

"I was just going to tell you that after lunch ends, you have to meet me at the cafeteria entrance to go to our next class," Sasuke informed her innocently. Amusement flashed in his dark spheres. "Kikuchi, I hope I didn't _scare_ you."

Her eyes narrowed into a heated glare as she spat out, "You certainly did not, Uchiha. I was just _surprised_. That's all."

Even though she was annoyed that the conniving boy would have the audacity to sneak up on her, she knew that wasn't the reason for her disgruntlement. When he scared her, he caught her at her most vulnerable moment; it was when her poise was all gone. So much for withholding what little pride she had left…

To make the moment even more bittersweet, even though Sasuke did not utter a word, his eyes seemed to radiate condescending amusement over her frazzled disposition. That struck her more deeply than any words possibly could.

With her heart still beating rapidly, Kari cleared her throat and said, "Now, if you're done entertaining yourself with my… minute unease over your surprise appearance, why don't you just go? My eyes are nearly burning in its sockets at the very sight of you."

Sasuke responded with nothing more than a slight grunt, leaving Kari to her lonesome once more.

As he slowly walked away, Kari released an angry groan. '_Curse that Sasuke!_' Her mind seethed with irritation, combating with her more logical mindset that wanted her to just calm down. Sadly, logic was never her forte. The irritation still reigned supreme. Angry swears swirled in her aggravated mindset, all directed to a certain arrogant someone.

'_It's official,_' Hikari began thinking, inhaling slowly to control her rapid breaths. '_**I loathe him**__._'

Bubble officially popped!

When Kari arrived at the front of line and retrieved her food, she already calmed her inner turmoil to a more acceptable level. The thought that she was going to be away from him provided more than enough comfort.

Besides, new qualms had taken residence in her mind.

'_Oh god… where am I going to sit?_' She wondered uneasily to herself, seeing each table filled with chattering students – all still unknown to her.

'_This is just one of those times when I despise being new…_'

Kari tentatively walked through the rows of creamy yellow tabletops, glancing at each one for a place to sit. She eventually nestled herself in a lone counter, all its sable colored seats completely empty. The young Kikuchi released a ragged sigh, lifting her newly obtained food to her lips.

'_At least now I can enjoy my food in peace…_'

Of course, during that one certain day, her personal wishes never seemed to be answered.

As she slowly chewed her lunch, a shadow suddenly erupted over her, blocking almost all fluorescent lights. Kari tiredly raised her head, hoping with all her soul that her supervisor did not come to torment her with his presence.

Instead of cold obsidian eyes, deep crimson irises was the center of her attention. Thin black frames encircled the person's blazing eyes, which, Kari soon realized, was a similar to the owner's fiery hair.

Kari swallowed her food, noting even further the girl's unusual hairstyle – one side of her hair was short and disheveled while the other half was finely combed and perceptibly longer.

"May I help you?" Kari asked anxiously, staring at the bizarre girl that towered over her, along with her posse standing right behind her.

"Say, you're that new chick, right?" The girl asked in a shrill voice. "Hikati, was it?"

"_Hikari_, actually, but I kind of like **Kari** more," the silver female corrected.

The red-head snorted, indicating she actually cared less. Kari inhaled a deep breath, feeling an angry nerve threaten to break from her pale temple.

Soon realization dawned over her. "Hey, and if you know my name, you must have been, at the very least, in my first class. Your name is…?"

"Karin," the redhead informed her proudly. "My name is Karin."

"Ah… Karin," Kari repeated quietly under her breath.

She certainly could not forget that girl's ostentatiously bright locks in the sea of students. It nearly stood out like a sore thumb. What truly caught Kari's eye was the savage gleam of malevolence radiating from Karin's red spheres.

'_And to think I wanted to punch the girl before…_' Of course, the silver-haired girl kept her resentment to herself. Karin did not deem to be a true candidate for her contempt… at least not right at that moment. Kari had just met her after all.

"Listen, I just wanted to tell you something that'll help you survive the semester," Karin offered, her hardened countenance making her guidance sound rather severe.

"Aw, that's so sweet you would do that for me, Karin! Now please, divulge your almighty wisdom. I'm _dying_ to hear it," Kari said, her words laced with evident sarcasm.

Karin's red brow twitched, perceiving the new scholar's sardonic tenor. She just shook her unusual mop of hair, discrediting Kari's comment from her mind, and said, "Of course. Since you are new here, I just wanted to tell you this: stay away from _my_ Sasuke!"

Kari nearly choked on her food. Coughing violently, she immediately chased her lunch with her bottle of water.

"What did you just say?" Kari asked, her voice hoarse and resisting the intrinsic reflex to gag. "You're not talking about _Uchiha_ Sasuke, right?"

"Of course Uchiha Sasuke! I want to make sure you and those long gray hairs of yours are far away from Sasuke. He's _going_ to be mine, okay? I don't even want to hear you saying anymore crap about him," Karin threatened. Seeing Karin had confounded the girl to the point of shock, the redhead felt triumph tug at the corners of her lips. "Now, since I heard he's supposed to be your escort, and you _are_ an ignorant new girl, I'll let today slide. If you'd listen to everything I just said, I think we'll get along just fine."

Her lackeys nodded in deep agreement as Karin's smile broadened to that of impudence and over-confidence.

"Are we clear?"

All that answered Karin's question was a soft brush of air. Kari was at a loss for words. Her mouth hung wide open.

'_Oh my god… this chick __can't__ be serious…_'

Just before the silvery-eyed female could reply to Karin's query, a voice interrupted her. "Aw, look what cat dragged in. It's the school slut herself!"

Karin's grin evaporated from her features as she snapped her head towards the voice. The invective had resonated from a girl with long blonde locks, pulled up in a high ponytail. Golden tendrils swung over her icy blue eyes.

"Oh, if _I'm_ the school slut, then you must be a Class A _**whore**_, blondie," Karin retorted, her fiery red orbs leering at the equally irate blonde.

"Of course, you should know what one is since you _are_ one. Right, Karin?" Another voice barked. This time, it was a girl with long rosy tresses, her deep green eyes sneering at the redhead.

Karin snorted. "What do you know? With a big forehead like yours, I'm surprised you would even come out in public."

"Do you want to fight?" 'Big forehead' inquired, cracking her knuckles in anticipation as her green spheres became ablaze with belligerence.

"I doubt you could even hurt a fly with those spindly arms."

"Um… guys? Can you please stop?" A soft voice pleaded them. Kari turned her amused gaze from the arguing trio to the gentle tone. Long ebony tendrils framed the voice's pale face. Her eyes were almost a shade of pastel lavender. "This, um, just wouldn't be a very good time for this…"

"That girl's right," Karin said. "This doesn't even concern the lot of you. I was just having a casual conversation with Kebi there. She doesn't require rescuing."

"You know… I am surprised to say that you're actually right."

The four girls froze in their place, discerning that neither of them had uttered a single word. Slowly they turned their heads towards the source.

"Kebi" wiped her lips, seeming blissfully content that she had finished her food. She had remained silent throughout the verbal melee, observing the opposing groups like an enraptured spectator. Now that she fully filled her stomach with some sustenance, it was about time the onlooker joined the action.

"I really _don't_ need rescuing. We were just having a civil conversation after all," Kari stated, a smile gracing her lips. "And if I'm right, there was a question I failed to answer."

Karin squared herself off, eyeing the relatively harmless Kikuchi with wary eyes. "Okay… just go on."

With her smile increasing in radiance, Kari said, "Before I even continue, may I make sure I heard you correctly? You did say you _planned_ on making Sasuke yours, right?"

Karin gingerly nodded her head. Kari snorted loudly, nearly breaking out into laughter at the verification.

"Just as I thought… Okay, first of all, don't worry yourself about bird boy. I don't even want to share air with that conceited cockatoo. Secondly, he deserves every bit of attitude I give him. His nose is so far up his own ass already, and he surely doesn't need me to enlarge his overly inflated ego."

The females gasped, finding her remark as the most unreasonable thing they ever heard.

Entertained by the flabbergasted expression, which, was most clearly displayed on Karin's visage, Kari continued with her final blow. "And I simply find it _**pathetic**_ that you would claim a boy, who even you admitted wasn't officially yours in the first place. I've endured his presence long enough to notice he doesn't give any girl in this entire school the time of day, let alone you."

Karin gasped once more. Everyone that surrounded the candid Kikuchi was subdued to a point of complete speechlessness.

"Now, if you're done offering me such 'sage advice', go crawl back to whatever rock you came from. I don't give a damn if I'm on _anyone's_ good side really, let alone sycophantically obsessed fan girl."

All blood rushed into the redhead's countenance, flushing to a color reminiscent to both her hair and eyes.

Kari bit her lip, stifling the laughter that threatened to explode from her throat.

"Kikuchi Hikari, you will regret the day you messed with me!" Karin shouted, storming away with her followers trotting right behind her.

"That's too late for that. I already regret wasting my breath on a whiny witch like her…" Kari mumbled loudly enough for the furious redhead to hear.

'_Ah, it's always fun making fun of people... especially with short fuses like her!_'

"Wow, that was simply amazing!" The pink-haired girl exclaimed, her green orbs glittering with delight over the sight.

"Uh… thanks, but I don't think telling off that psychotic fruit basket was much of an accomplishment I'd brag about," Kari stated flatly.

The three girls giggled, seating themselves on the chairs that nearly whined from neglect.

"True, but that was ten times better than anything I'd say! There's really not many people here who can take the trash that chick dishes out," the blonde one said with a slight smile.

The pink-haired added, "All bark and absolutely no bite!"

"She's just not nice to anyone…" the timid one in almost a whisper.

Kari replied with a light grin, "And I'm guessing you three are the rebels of the school who dare challenge her then."

"Hell yeah! There's so much crap I can take. She seriously needs her head examined…" Blondie said loudly then spoke in a calmer tone, "By the way, I'm Yamanaka Ino!"

"And you can just hear her bigmouth just as easily as Karin's," teased the floral haired girl.

Ino narrowed her eyes to an icy sneer, retorting in an affronted tone, "And this here is Haruno Sakura, the class's biggest nerd and proprietor of the largest forehead the world has ever seen."

"What was that, Ino-pig?" Sakura spat out, hostility blazing in her green orbs.

Ino then remarked in a similar aggressive fashion, "You heard me, Billboard brow!"

Electricity crackled violently as their gazes locked, intent on disintegrating the opposition until only their ashes lingered.

The silvery-haired female watched the two girls uneasily, feeling a watery droplet form at the base of her neck. "Hey, are they really friends… um…?"

"Hyuuga Hinata," the ebony-haired female informed her. "And yes. They're actually best of friends. They just express their closeness in a rather unorthodox way!"

"Unorthodox indeed. With friends like that, I don't need any enemies."

Hinata giggled in response. "Anyway, um, I'm just sorry that your first is turning out not very well…"

"Oh yeah!" sounded Sakura, who momentarily paused her glaring match with the blonde Yamanaka. "You're the new girl Kaka-sensei introduced this morning."

"What was your name again?"

"It's Kikuchi Hikari," the silver-haired female said with a grin, "But I prefer Kari."

"Nice to meet you, Kari-chan!"

"Oh. And, er, aren't you being escorted by Sasuke?"

Kari's nearly felt her spirit deflate at the very thought. She groaned, "Oh, don't even remind me. I don't know how everyone could tolerate that jerk's presence."

Hinata replied, "Well… I'm not entirely certain of that, but we have had him for quite a long time. Ever since we were children really."

A gray brow raised upwards. "Really? Since you guys knew him for so long, is always he such a bigheaded block of stone?"

Ino shrugged her shoulders, twirling her long blonde locks as she pondered that inquiry. "Actually, Sasuke usually keeps to himself. He doesn't talk very much, let alone associate with any of the fawning girls, like Karin. Apparently no girl on the face of the planet is good enough for him… but, of course, I don't give a rat's ass if he looks my way! I don't care at all…"

Kari felt her lips quirk upwards as she watched Ino chuckle nervously under her breath, anxiously combing her golden ponytail. '_Heh, poor Ino… she must have been rejected so many times she can't even count any more!_'

"But that's only because he must be so intent on his studies," Sakura added quickly. "He's one of the smartest boys in our class."

"I… guess so," Kari admitted. When she actually paid attention to her newest teachers, Sasuke nearly answered every question and spoke in a rather articulate and intelligent way. There was no way the young Kikuchi could dispute with that.

"Besides that, that firm gaze of his just makes him all the hotter!" Sakura squealed, her cheeks flushing a pale crimson. "He's so serious and focused, not to mention a great athlete! Ah! There's nothing Sasuke can't do!"

'_Oh… my… god. Great! Not another obsessed fan girl!_' Kari cried in her mind, defying the automatic urge to refute such biased remarks. '_At least this one actually has half a brain… not a total psycho like the last one._'

"He's, um… okay, I suppose," Hinata chirped. "He's not all that great, but he is gifted in several ways… I guess."

Kari nodded her head in agreement, nearly tearing up that she has, at least, one sane new friend. Thank the heavens that there was at least there's one girl in this entire school that's not worshipping the dirt Uchiha walks on.

"HEEELLLOOO, GUYS!" an overly energetic voice greeted, alarming the the silvery-haired female. "Watcha' guys doing here?"

Kari blinked countless times, eyeing the owner of the voice curiously. His lips were curved in such a wide smile that it nearly hurt her cheeks just thinking about it. His golden tendrils were spiky, making her wonder if it would be painful if she touched a single barb. His eyes were bright blue, a tint reminiscent to hers that were instead flecked with gray.

"AGH! NARUTO, YOU ARE AN IDIOT!" Sakura yelled, socking the blonde boy in the arm.

"Ouch! Sakura, why are you so mean to me?" Naruto whined, rubbing his injured limb carefully with his hands. "I was just saying hi…"

"But giving everyone a heart attack is not the way to do it, _baka_!"

Naruto's smile melted to a sad frown, upset by the lashing Sakura unleashed. Here Kari thought Ino was the one that possessed the overtly large mouth. Apparently, Sakura is also in possession of two large physical attributes.

"Um… Hello, Naruto," Hinata greeted him softly, dropping her gaze to the table. "It's, er, nice to see you…"

Naruto's ultramarine orbs suddenly regained its original luster, capturing Hinata's pale eyes. "Gee, thanks, Hinata! At least I know my presence is appreciated."

The Hyuuga girl gasped, blood rushing into her vapid cheeks. She nodded her head, sinking down lower in her seat in order to conceal her rosy cheeks. This sight certainly did intrigue Kari, who scrutinized Hinata's countenance inquisitively.

"Hey, you!" Kari turned back to the boisterous blonde male. "Yeah, you're the new girl, right?"

"Yep, and you are really loud!" she countered with equivalent vigor. "Do you know a little thing called an inside voice?"

Instead of feeling affronted by her remark, Naruto burst out into laughter. "Ha, new girl's funny, guys! Really funny!"

'_I sort of meant that remark… oh well! Just smile with him, Hikari. Just smile_,' Kari told herself, forcing her lips to curve.

"And the new girl has a name, idiot," Ino said. "Her name's Kari."

"Hi, Kari!" he greeted in a cheery voice, completely ignorant to Ino's scornful tone. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I plan to be souban of the yakuza one day!"

"UGH, NARUTO!" Ino and Sakura yelled in perfect unison, harmoniously hitting the azure-eyed boy.

"Stop talking such nonsense," Ino chastised heatedly.

Sakura then added, "I don't want you and your weirdness freaking out Kari-chan on her first day!"

"Owies…" Naruto whimpered as he slowly collected his composure. "I only was speaking the truth."

Just before the two irate girls could chide the blonde and his crazy talk, an unexpected noise pervade around the table: laughter.

"You're certainly eccentric, Naruto!" Kari said in the midst of her giggles.

Sakura and Ino released a relieved sigh as Naruto's grin widened.

"Really? Thanks!" he exclaimed, blatantly unaware of what 'eccentric' exactly means.

"But wouldn't becoming the leader of the yakuza be hard? You need to be as tough as nails to do that job. Besides, aren't all yakuza affairs crime-related?"

"That's what you think. Once I become souban, I'll be able to change that and make yakuzas something better! Believe it!"

"Is that so…" Kari's giggles ceased, and a wistful grin took its place. Her eyes suddenly withheld a pensive glaze.

"Anyways, so what're you guys talking about?"

"We were just telling Kari here some background info on her escort, Uchiha Sasuke. So lucky…" Sakura released a desirous sigh, nearly propelling herself into several dreamy fantasies concerning the raven-haired genius.

Before Kari could tip over her chair from a fit of laughter, Naruto scoffed. "Ha! That guy's not that special."

"You don't even know what you're talking about," Ino growled, giving the impression that she may be more infatuated with the distant boy then she led on.

"You bet, Ino? Well it's no wonder. You're a _girl_ after all," he said with such a distasteful look on his face. Ino nearly flared in rage, but Naruto continued. "But, most of the girls here have fallen head over heels over Sasuke. Don't know why though. I guess even though he's so emo, he's purportedly '_better to look at_'."

The silver-haired girl released an unladylike snort. "Neither do I. He's a self-centered jerk."

A blissful smile graced Naruto's lips as he praised the heavens, "Finally! There's a girl with a functional brain!"

An angry nerve exploded on a certain rosy female's already menacing countenance. "Oh yeah? So does that make all other girls completely crazy?"

Naruto winced, fear deluging into his ultramarine orbs. Considering his word choice with the utmost care, he replied in a nervous voice, "N… no! The only crazy one is Karin… and Ino, but Ino's undergoing rehab or something!"

"I thought so!" Sakura relaxed her visage, as a content grin tugged at her lips. Naruto also loosened up, ecstatic that another beating was yet again averted… at least by Sakura. He did fail to appease one girl.

"You b-stard!" Ino slapped the boy straight across his cheeks, knocking him off the seat. "Just because I find him attractive doesn't make me obsessive like all the other nutcases here!"

"That's what you think…" Naruto muttered low enough so that Ino could not hear and crawled back onto his seat.

"Oh look at the time," Hinata gasped, turning everyone's attention towards the hanging clock.

"So I'm guessing lunch's about to end?" Kari forced herself to ask, dreading the answer.

"Yeah, it is. So what class do you next?"

"Gym," Kari replied.

"Ooh! Yes, I think we'll all be together!!"

"At least that's one reason to be happy…" she murmured crossly under her breath.

The bell then rang its harsh blast, signaling the end of the period. Students bustled out of their seats and raced for the door. Kari wasn't all to excited too reach the doorway, motivating herself only by the fact the day was slowly coming to a close.

Sasuke stood by the exit as promised, awaiting her arrival with explicit impatience. "You're so slow."

"Ah, I had a wonderful lunch also. Thanks," Kari said dryly, following Sasuke as he walked at the cafeteria. "You know, there's a lot of colorful people here at Konoha."

"Hn," was the only sound Sasuke replied. Undeterred and wishing mostly to irk him, Kari persisted.

"Yes, the most irritating color had to be red, which I now officially despise. Not to worry though! My distaste for you outweighs red by a long shot!" Kari mused and continued rambling on. "But there were other colors I sort of liked. Lavender was the sweetest and the most sensible. Pink was rather annoying, but otherwise tolerable. There were two shades of yellows - the brightest one I found the oddest, and the other one just had a loud mouth."

Sasuke glanced back at the babbling female, gawking at her as if she had finally admitted to lunacy for speaking about colors having distinct personalities.

"Then there's black. Boy, after I saw black, I learned I simply despised it! I never knew that color could be so arrogant and full of itself, treating the color gray like a dim toddler…"

His stare deepened into a leer once he fully understood her multicolored references… or at the very least the last two colors. "At least the color black has half a brain. Gray sometimes is too crazy to make any sense."

Kari chuckled and added, "You think _gray_ is crazy? You should listen to yourself! You're the one that's not making any sense with all that talk of black and gray! You're acting if those colors are actual people."

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, to say the steely blue-eyed female started such nonsense, but quickly closed it. "…so annoying…"

The so-called annoying female giggled, finding it entertaining to annoy the sable Uchiha.

"If you're done amusing yourself with such nonsensical drivel, we have to get to class," he barked as Kari nodded her head, finding herself blissfully optimistic of her next class. Certainly her day must getting better!

…Of course, Hikari will soon learn that her optimism is completely superfluous. The next period class will probably one of her most troublesome classes yet. It is gym after all. Whether she likes it or not, Kari's going to sweat - either by her mysterious instructor or by some other force she had underestimated…

* * *

Eek, this chapter didn't entirely turn out the way I hope… If that's a good thing or not, I'll let you guys decide. I sincerely hope it wasn't awful.

SORRY IF IT WAS!! I'LL TRY TO MAKE THE NEXT ONE BETTER OR I'LL FIX UP THIS ONE LATER!

Here are quick chapter notes: Just in case it wasn't obvious (Well it was to me, but I'm the author), this is the color references- Red: Karin, Lavender: Hinata, Pink: Sakura, Yellow: Naruto (brightest) and Ino, Black: Sasuke, Gray: Kari.

Also, I don't "hate" Karin. Eh… okay I don't like her character that much, but the antagonism between the two girls, Kari and Karin, is necessary especially in later chapters… I think. So I apologize to any people who likes Karin. I tried to keep my personal feelings of that certain character away from that story. To me, Kari just wouldn't take anything Karin told her, and for some reason, I wanted to put Karin into the story. Oh well... I'm just babbling like an idiot right now so I'll stop.

Anyway… thanks for reading it no matter how it turned out! I appreciate it, you know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Entering: ****New Teachers, Equivalent Dilemmas**

"Why do all girls take such a long time to change?" A cross Uchiha inquired as a silver-haired female materialized from the girl's locker room.

"Well I don't know why you're asking me that question. I would have suspected you to be female with your hair. Do you have any idea how long it is?" Kari countered, patting down her gym clothes.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into a leer. "Your hair certainly is longer than mine, Kikuchi."

"Not to mention longer than all the other girls in school," Kari murmured in such a way that made him uncertain whether she was rejoicing her individuality or cursing her great difference. By the way she held her tendrils, now bound in a messy bun, Sasuke thought the latter to be more accurate.

"And besides, I got out much earlier than the other girls, who are so engrossed on such superficial affairs that it makes me gag."

"Whatever you say… come on." Sasuke turned on the soles of his sneakered feet and walked towards the gym. Kari offered none of her usual defiance and just trotted right behind him.

Using his peripheral vision, Sasuke watched as the strange silvery girl skipped, frolicked really towards the gymnasium, humming some sort of cheerful melody with a jolly grin tugging at her lips. Her loose bun bobbed with each step, releasing locks of silvery tresses form its bindings.

Sasuke soon asked, "Kikuchi, why are you so happy?"

"Why does it concern you? Can't I just be happy because I want to be?" She queried, her joyful skipping undeterred and retaining its exuberance.

"It doesn't. It's just if you don't have a proper reason, people may swoop in and place you in a straitjacket."

"Ooh! That's the thing where people look like mummies, right? I always wanted one!"

"…I'm sure you do."

Silvery blue orbs whirled in a perfect circle. "Anyway, if you truly want to know why I'm happy, I'll tell you."

"It's not necessary. I'm starting to settle with the fact you're just a retard."

Kari scowled. "If I'm a retard then what are you? A loon, who has the hair of a chicken's ass?" The Uchiha's only response to Kari's rebuttal was a heated sneer. When her own orbs gazed into his molten back irises, a shiver ran down her spine. "Alright, fine. I guess you really don't want to know then…"

Sasuke's released a low grunt, turning his head away from her. Should she actually take that as a submission, masked with his languor and arrogance?

Well, whether her thinking was completely factual or erroneous, Kari did. "I'm just so happy to rid myself of that skirt for this one glorious period! Thank you, gym, for mandating uniform habiliments!" Kari shot her arms into the air, jumping wildly in pure ecstasy.

The gym uniform was similar to people of both genders. Kari noted that Sasuke's navy blue short grazed his sculpted knees, an insignia of a leaf sewn into his left side.

Kari's clothes hung in a similar fashion, but she speculated hers was simply a little big for her slender frame. She found the overall attire comfortable so she could not complain.

Sasuke simply said, "Yeah, you never did like skirts."

The hyperactive female paused in her wild antics, eyeing the Uchiha curiously. "Oh? What gives you enough evidence to state that? You haven't known me for that long."

"That's easy. It's because you've all..." Suddenly, Sasuke's words died on his tongue. He shut his lips into a tight line, pondering his response meticulously.

"Sasuke? Are you in need psychotic assistance?" Kari queried.

"No, and it's pronounced _'psychological'_ or '_psychiatric'_!" Sasuke lashed out. "If anyone needs help, certainly you would need it more than me!"

"No, I really think I meant psycho. See? You must have lost your marbles if you're mistaking your mental problems to be mine." The Uchiha's smoldering black orbs crossly bored into Kari's bright aqueous silver spheres.

His voice tight with antagonism, Sasuke then said, "The reason why I thought you disliked skirts was because you intermittently would fuss with the hem as if you were uncomfortable with it. Even a maniac could see that. If you kept tugging on it, it may..."

"No! You better not finish that sentence! I'm already cursed, and I don't need further condemnation flying out from your mouth!" Kari yelled, covering her delicate ears with her pale palms.

Sasuke's countenance seemed swept of all emotion, his cold gaze deluged with incredulity over her bizarre actions. Hikari certainly was proving to be the strangest creature he had ever met…

"Hn. Just hurry up. You're lagging behind."

"What?"

"You're lagging behind."

"Wah??"

"_I said_ you're lagging behind."

"**What?!**"

"Kikuchi, remove your palms from your ears already and move your bony self already!"

Kari promptly dropped her hands back to her side, pursing her lips into a little pout. "Fine, but there's no need to yell. Jeez... such a meanie…"

Sasuke failed to respond. Kari only perceived a slight nerve peeking from his temples and his fist clenching into a tight fist. His teeth ground against each other. The silvery girl chuckled at his overall demeanor, commencing to move forward right behind him.

While she skipped forward, a slight trepidation nipped at her stomach. But _why_ was she so anxious? It certainly wasn't about her early dream-related fears, which she forced to the back of her mind.

'_There has to be something I'm forgetting..._'

"Kikuchi, don't strain yourself like that. Your head's going to explode if you keep thinking."

Kari retorted, "Sasuke, shut up! I have the right to think!"

"Not if you keep thinking that hard. Something up?"

Kari shook her head. "It's nothing really. I just feel as if I forgot something. It was something of dire importance and my life depended on it. Oh well! It probably wasn't important if I just forgot about it!"

"Hn. Whatever. Like I care..."

"Then why did you ask?!"

"It's either ask or let your gooey brain burst and splatter over the gym. Tsunade wouldn't be very happy if _that_ happened."

"Hmm… I wouldn't mind if you become headmistress bait. It would be incredibly entertaining to watch!"

As they marched into the gymnasium, Kari overheard her dark-haired supervisor grumble something with minimal clarity. Instead of dwelling on over his unintelligible speech, Kari saw the tiled floorings transformed into long wooded boards. The large lights hung in the high rising ceilings, illuminating the vast gym with their blazing white light.

Wooden bleachers towered towards her left side, reaching heights that made her stomach perform aerial acrobatics.

The silver-haired female shook herself of that unease and turned her attention to the clumps of students, stretching their limbs and their mouths with discourse.

"Gym class will start soon so it would be best to mentally prepare yourself now," Sasuke advised Kari, also stretching himself for the activities that would soon commence.

Unconsciously following his actions, Kari inquired, "But why's that?"

"You'll find out when you meet the instructors," he replied calmly.

"Oh, _now_ you choose to slack off! What type of escort are you? You told me the identity of all the other teachers," Kari whined.

"Well this is a special case. No words could describe the instructors to the fullest. It's going to quite a spectacle, I'll assure that much," Sasuke said.

"Whatever. Is there anything you _can_ tell me?"

The dark-haired Uchiha meditated Kari's query. "Well there are two instructors, a male and female. They usually split the class into boy/girl groups, but occasionally they do mix the classes." Sasuke glanced over his silvery haired companion. "Happy?"

Obstinately, she crossed her arms like a small child, pouting. "No! I'm not!"

Shooting his traditional cold sneer, Sasuke snapped his head away with a low grunt. More of her contemporaries flooded into the gymnasium, manifesting the large room with miscellaneous prattle. Kari stood quite awkwardly in her place, waiting impatiently for her teachers to arrive.

Just as Kari felt herself doze off into a dreamy slumber, a whistle sounded in the air. She jumped upwards, taken aback by the grating noise.

'_I'm guessing the teachers finally decided to come to class... About time._' Dismissing the ringing in her ears, Kari languidly turned her body to face the source of the whistle.

She nearly felt her whole body collapse onto the ground. Her eyes felt as if they were threatening to bulge out of their sockets.

Standing before her was a man... With the furriest eyebrows she ever saw. His hair was cut into a shiny bowl shape and his clothes...

'_No man his age should wear green spandex!! It should be illegal!_' Kari shuddered and her bottom lip threatened to plunge to the wooden flooring, seeing the green hug his torso and legs. How grateful she is to see he had enough decency to wear shorts...

No matter how disturbing the sight was, Kari could not avert her eyes.

"Now, I heard that we got a new student today," Spandex man said. "Where is she?

No one responded. Poor Kari was too flabbergasted by the overall materialization of such a peculiar figure, that she lost all will to speak.

"Anyone?"

An elbow slammed into her exposed arm, retrieving a low yelp from her speechless throat.

"That hurt..." Kari whimpered, rubbing her reddened arm and glancing over to the dark-haired boy. He stood completely still in his place, seemingly ignorant of the glare she shot him.

Spandex man's dark irises glittered with realization and said, "Ah! You there with the red arm, what's your name?"

Unsure if the man was truly addressing her (Who else could it have been? If she had time to retaliate, there would be someone with a black eye), Kari gingerly replied, "Kikuchi Hikari, but I'm partial to Kari."

"Nice to meet you, Kari! You can just call me Gai," he said, smiling an almost blinding grin.

"Dude, I know you're a guy. What's you name?"

Undeterred by the verbal bungle, he repeated with increased fervor, "No, it's not _'guy'_, is Gai!"

"Oh my god! I know! Just tell me you're name already!" She cried.

Sasuke then elucidated in a soft voice, "Loser, it's G-A-I."

"Oh my god! His name is Gay?" she inquired, her mouth opening in shock.

"Not g-a-y, moron! G-A-I," Sasuke repeated irritably.

Repeating the letters several times in her mind, Kari finally understood. "Oohh! His name is _**Gai**_! That makes more sense. Sorry, Gai-sensei!"

"That's okay! As the new student it's okay to make mistakes! You just have to learn from them. That's the magic of being young," Gai said, his porcelain teeth refracting in the incandescent lights.

"Oh, Gai-sensei, that was so wise!" a young man exclaimed.

"I know, Rock Lee. I know."

'_…How was that in anyway cool?_'

Curiosity got the better of her as her oceanic gray orbs turned towards the source of the voice.

'_Eek! It's a mini version of spandex man!!_'

Thankfully, mini spandex man's clothes were only a similar shade of green, donning a shirt and shorts instead of the illegally tight spandex. Then she gazed at his head.

'_Whoa! It really is Gai's mini me!_' Lee's hair was cut in a similar bowl shaped manner as the older man. Two caterpillars seemed to take residence above his buggy eyes.

'_As long as I don't have to wear that vile suit, I think I'll be content..._'

"Now, since you are the new student," Gai said, snapping Kari from her reverie, "Are there any questions you wish to ask me?"

Waving away any other disturbances that still haunted her mind from Gai's general appearance, Kari nodded her head. "Yes, there's one. I was informed that there would be two gym instructors." She swallowed hard, her throat becoming dry. "Where is she?"

"Oh, that's an easy question that will be answered very soon!" Gai replied. "Your other sensei will..."

"HEEEELLOO, NEW STUDENT!"

Suddenly, the spandex clad male was interrupted by a voice. All eyes looked upwards to see a strange blur of purple flip towards them, landing squarely on their feet. The figure straightened their torso upwards, revealing a piercing pair of striking scarlet spheres.

Kari nearly felt her heart plummet down to her abdomen, disintegrating in its acidic pool. She held her breath.

'_Oh my god... This must be a cruel sick joke..._'

The silver-haired female inched herself behind her taller, dark-haired supervisor, attempting to conceal herself from the new figure's gaze.

"So hello again! My name's Mitarashi Anko," bellowed the purple-haired woman, making poor Kari cringe, "But, guys, should know my name by now! I'm telling that mostly for the new students benefit... Speaking of which, where is the lucky gal?"

Silence commanded the air, brushing Anko's purple tendrils with a gentle breeze.

"Hello? New girl? Where are you?" The female turned her head in all sorts of directions, desperately searching for the concealed silver-haired female.

'_Just remain completely still... Maybe if Sasuke has an iota of benevolence in his soul, I can survive this..._'

"Here." Before Kari knew it, her protective barrier sidestepped, forcefully pushing her forward. "Found her. Seems like she's hearing impaired."

The irritated female snapped her head back, infuriation radiating from her darkening blue orbs. Sasuke's countenance did not even hold a semblance of emotion; his cold orbs were the only thing that met her heated stare. '_Stupid Uchiha..._'

Kari slowly turned her head back forward. Her whole body froze in its place. Her instructor's ruby orbs glittered happily, her lips trembling with delight.

"Kari-chan?" Anko asked in a happy tenor.

'_Dammit!_' She thought, a nervous droplet of sweat sliding down the nape of her neck.

Just before she could escape for safety, the purple woman swiftly leaped up, successfully glomping the young girl. Kari lay immobile on the floor; her neck was held in a tight vice-grip.

"Ah, Kari-chan!!! I can't believe Kakashi-San never told me told me about this! I never knew _you_ were the new girl," she shouted, hugging the unlucky Kikuchi until all breath escaped from her lungs.

'_And that was probably for my wellbeing... Kaka-San actually did one nice thing for me the whole entire day._'

"Anko... Me turning into pancake! No breathy!" Kari squeaked out.

"My goodness! What are you? A cavewoman? Doesn't Kakashi teach you how to speak proper sentences?"

"ANKO!"

"Fine... Be that way, Hi-chan." With a slight pout on her face, Anko released the silver-haired girl from her grasp, standing to her feet. Kari sat herself erect, drawing profuse amounts of air into her lungs, curing her momentary oxygen deficit.

"Thank you…" Swallowing another mouthful of air, Kari added, "And if I say, in some weird way, I'm glad to see you, will you be happy?"

"Yay!! I knew it! You do care, Kari-chan!" Anko again enveloped the young girl into her arms, crushing her in a strong grip.

'_I should have known better... Now I have to face Anko's hug of death._'

"Ga… Gai-sensei! Help me please!" Kari pleaded in a raspy voice, entreating the green male with sparkling eyes. "Help! This… must be sexual harassment or something! Rape even!"

Gai cleared his throat, discrediting her assertions over the female instructor. "Um, Anko-San? Can you please give poor Kikuchi-San some air? She's beginning to turn blue."

"Oh, of course!" Anko's grip loosened, allowing the suffocating girl to escape, desperately gasping for breath. "Sorry, Kari-chan! I didn't mean to do that!"

"Yeah, sure..." breathed the silver-haired female. She did find that delighted, silly grin debasing Anko's seemingly sincere contrition.

"Anko, you always seem to jump the gun, do you? I was just about to introduce you to our newest student. You probably scared poor Kikuchi-San with your crazy antics."

"Aw, Kari-chan's used to my bizarreness!" assured the purple-haired instructor. "She had to deal with me _a lot_. Right, Kari-chan?"

A semblance of a smile tugged at her lips as Kari nervously nodded her head. '_I just had to remember about Anko __now__... My luck..._'

"Anyway, we will be your instructors for the year, Gai and Anko."

"And I'm also your health teacher for the part of year!" chirped Anko. "He refused to take part in it because only the heavens know why..."

Gai snapped back, "Well I prefer not speak so openly about such unsavory and youthful topics."

"Ah, it's not that bad! Birth's supposed to be a beautiful thing." The male teacher instructor gagged at the very thought, turning a shade of green reminiscent to his verdant habiliments.

Kari herself felt her pallor lose color. '_Oh my gosh... How could they allow that dissolute alcoholic teach health?_'

"Come on, Kari-chan! Don't look so glum. It's better learning the birdies and the bees from me! You don't want Kaka-San teaching you anatomy and all that other fun stuff do you?" Anko teased. A shiver ran down Kari's spine at the very thought, evoking the dirty salmon book he carries always around...

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" The silver female leaped up, startled to see a mop of blonde hair, bright electric blue orbs gazing intently at her.

"Naruto, you take pleasure in giving people heart attacks, don't you?" she asked.

Unfazed, Naruto repeated his inquiry. "How do you know the old geezer?"

"Well... I sort of..."

"You're related to him! Aren't you!?"

Just before Kari could open her mouth to correct the blonde, the blabbermouth continued.

"Ooh, I knew Kakashi got around... You must be his daughter from one of his hordes of mistresses. Even though you don't have the same colored eyes, your hair is almost the same! Furthermore…"

"Naruto, shut up!" She finally shouted. "Kakashi-San is not my father. If he was, I would be the most miserable girl on the face of the planet."

Confusion flooded to his bright blue irises. "Oh? Then how is Kakashi-sensei related to Kari-chan then?"

Just before Kari could open her mouth and reply, Anko quickly jumped in. "Kaka-san is Kari-chan's uncle!"

"WHAT? Kakashi-sensei is your _uncle_?" Naruto gasped.

"Anko, don't fill his crazy head with such lies!" Kari cried and then turned her head towards the blonde male. "We are not related by blood. He's just my guardian."

"Oh… But still! That's just as good if he's related. You could persuade him to do so much like postpone tests, give us less homework… Ah! I'm so lucky to have a new best friend that actually knows that lazy teacher…"

The silver-haired female blinked several times, taken aback by the sudden declaration that she was his best friend. They had just met after all…

Hikari then just shook her head. "I wouldn't get my hopes up. I don't see that happening in the distant future," she mumbled, recalling her skirmish the morning with Kakashi.

"And speaking of Kakashi, how could he do this to you!" Anko gasped in horror.

"What… what do you mean, Anko-sensei?" Kari asked, her head tilting at a slight incline to accentuate her curiosity.

"Look at your clothes! They are much too big for you," the purple instructor exclaimed, scrutinizing the young scholar's attire.

"Oh… it is, isn't it?"

'_I knew it! I knew it really is too big._'

Kari never really noticed how much shorter the other girls' shorts were, reaching only up to their mid-thighs. It certainly made her long shorts seem even longer.

"Well it's not a big deal, Anko. I'm okay with it. It's very comfy really."

"But with your figure, it's almost blasphemous for you to dress like that," Anko groused. "Are you sure? I could totally snag a smaller size…"

"No! It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"And Anko-san, you're wasting time…" Gai pointed out. "We have a tight schedule to keep."

"Oh right! Sorry about that!" Anko apologized with a silly grin on her face and then shouted, "Okay, class, we will be practicing the mile for the first half of the class period!"

A melodious sound of groans echoed in air.

"Ah, suck it up, you lazy good for nothings! Just get your butts outside and run already!" Anko barked.

The students forced their feet to shuffle forward, heading out of the door. Poor Kari herself felt a little low in spirits, mortified by the fact she actually had forgotten.

"How could I forget something like this!" she moaned, grimacing at the very thought.

"Forget what?" Kari lethargically forced her head to turn towards the voice, resonating from her stoical supervisor.

"Something like _Anko_," Kari lazily explained. "That lunatic, hyper, purple female..."

Sasuke's brow arched upwards. "You _know_ her?"

"Of course. She visited me frequently when I stayed at Kaka-San's home and even long before that." The silver-haired female felt her spirits plunge even deeper into abysmal depths. "To think, even yesterday Kaka-San even warned me she would be me gym teacher..."

"But how can you possibly forget something like Anko-sensei?" he asked, surprised by the very pronouncement.

"It's a feat only I could possibly accomplish," she groused, her lips curving to a bitter chagrin. "Curse me and my selective memory..."

Her words piqued a curious nerve in the generally passive boy. He repeated skeptically, "Selective... Memory?"

Hikari forlornly nodded her head. "It's a curse only I endure. I always push bad thoughts, like certain harassment from that purple-haired nutcase, to the back of my mind. When I actually do remember what it is, it's usually too late. Very sad really..."

"Selective memory, huh? I wouldn't call that sad. I consider it typical for someone of your mentality."

"What was that, Uchiha? I seemed to be unable to hear you," Kari said apathetically.

"What? Now you're deaf also?"

"Goodness, you have to speak louder or something! There's a pesky insect that keeps making this irritating sound. We really have to get a fly swatter and just bat it away!"

Sasuke refused further response, muttering crossly under his breath about feigning selective hearing. Kari giggled, feeling the joy of irritating her escort trickle through her languid veins.

She needed all the energy she could get to survive her next challenge…

* * *

'_The mind has a tendency to lock away discomforting memories and focus on those that bring us the most joy._'

(Hee hee! That's Kari for you! Is that an important fact? … I guess you'll see.)

Anyways, thanks so much for reading! I appreciate it.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey, readers!! I finally return from the ashes to update my story! Surprise, surprise.

I believe I forgotten to post that I was going to be gone for a little while because I had exams and stuff... Sorry!! But now I'm back... and my brain is pretty much gelatin. Because of this, I'm not sure how well this chapter came out. So apologies in advance. I may edit this in the future...

But all I'm truly happy about is... SCHOOL AND EXAMS ARE OVER!! Now enough of that nonsense... On with the story!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7**

**Entering: Looming Belligerence**

_Pant. Pant._

The sun's burning rays seemed to pound on the earth that afternoon, basking the land with its scorching heat to display its imposing might. The golden star was especially merciless on the runners, who forced their legs to continue forth around the spherical track.

Beads of sweat trickled down their necks. Even Kari felt the effects induced by the malevolent sun. She presumed the disgusting droplets of perspiration were more from the fiery star then the actual exercise.

Most females lagged behind, loosing all will to run and decided to walk the last lap. The other students continued jogging lightly, their breaths heavy. She had pretty good stamina so she could undertake this run with some ease.

The perspiring Kikuchi took a steady speed towards the front of the crowd, jogging at a safe distance between two specific runners.

Electricity flared when ultramarine orbs locked onto cold ebony. No one dared go near them... except, of course, the ignorant new girl.

'_What's the matter with those two?_' she wondered, scrutinizing their strange glaring match with inquisitive eyes. '_I'll never understand them!_'

"What's the matter? You're not tired. Are you, loser?" Sasuke inquired, a condescending luster lighting his cold orbs.

In a raucously loud voice, Naruto exclaimed, "Why would _I_ be tired? I should be directing that question to you. You're sweating bullets!"

"You are too. I doubt you could even finish this last lap."

Kari sighed, feeling she never shall understand the complexities of the male brain. Boys always seem to be fighting over such trivial affairs. She doesn't even comprehend females and their obsession over Sasuke, let alone their fascination over fashion. Considering she was female herself, she found that fact a little pitiful...

Her shoulders shrugged, hearing the garrulous blonde actuate a ridiculous competition – the overall practicality the event served was only to release unnecessary amounts of hot air.

"Oh yeah? Well I surely can finish this lap before you!"

With a slight scoff, Sasuke nodded his head and turned his head forward. "We'll see about that, loser."

"On the count of three," Naruto said. "One..."

Kari noticed the blonde competitor draw close towards her right side, leering only at Sasuke, who, in turn, also closed in from her left flank.

"Two..." Both entrants nearly crushed the silvery onlooker, who tried desperately to search for an escape.

'_Ah crap! You got to be kidding me!_'

The fearful Kikuchi tried holding back, hoping to allow the two to move passed her and continue with their asinine race.

But it was much too late.

"Three!"

The two rushed forward, glaring daggers at the opposition... and dragging poor Kari right in the middle. Neither side seemed to notice though, intent more on arriving first at the finish line.

Droplets of tears formed in her eyes, feeling the blustery wind burn her orbs. All air rushed out from her lungs. She could barely utter a single syllable.

She was able to think one thing.

'_Ah!! I'm going to die! I'm __really__ going to die! Someone save me already!_'

In what Kari discerned to be in a matter of ten seconds, the three of them completed the lap. Sasuke and Naruto separated from each other, releasing the tired Kikuchi from her constraints.

"I won!" They both yelled, their breaths heavy and uneven. Hearing the opposition proclaim victory, the two combatants glanced over towards each other.

Anger flared from both their irises, screaming that the other was sorely mistaken. Soon two arms stretched out, pointing to the person standing opposite to them. "Tell us who won!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled, looking at their teachers for a verdict.

"It looked like a three way tie to me. What'd you think, Gai?" Anko queried, unfazed by the feat that occurred before them.

"I suppose so!" Gai grinned, allowing his astonishment over their speedy race to morph to bliss. "Ah… that is the magic of being young! Even the elements couldn't stop them!"

"Wait! You said there's **three**," Naruto began his inquiry.

Sasuke then finished the thought, "But who the hell is the third?"

"Yeah, I'll pound that sucker for intruding in our contest," Naruto threatened, cracking his knuckles. "So where is he? Is it Neji? No, no it must have been Kiba! He had something against me ever since I asked him if he slept in a dog house with that demon mutt, Akamaru..."

Anko corrected, "Um, I'm not sure pounding **HER** to a fine powder is necessary. She's pretty beat already..."

"Her?" Both inquisitive males followed their instructor's outstretched hands, pointing to someone lying on the ground. This figure was lying right on her face, tentatively waving her hand towards them.

"Mrempo...." A rumble squeaked out from the silvery haired female.

(Translation: Hello...)

"Kikuchi, that you?" The Uchiha inquired, gawking at the prostrate girl who absently continued waving her arm in the air.

"Mrut mud mwrit mrook mwike?"

(Translation: What does it look like?)

"Aaahhhh!! Kari-chan!!" Naruto cried. He promptly lifted Kari from the track, shaking her violently. Her head and limbs flopped flailed uncontrollably . "Kari, I am so sorry! It's Uchiha's fault! Please say something!"

Anko scolded, "Baka… if you snap her neck with all that shaking, how can she reply?"

Sapphire spheres widened, instantaneously ceasing his unruly acts. Again he yelled, "Ahh!! Don't die Kari-chan!! I'm sorry!"

Normally, if the silver Kikuchi had a remnant of sense and consciousness, she would flare up in rage and knock the blonde silly. How dare he shake her and scream in her ears! She is not some rag doll. Then she probably would direct her hostility towards the stoical Uchiha only because he had assisted with her anguish.

But right now? An exception her body forced her to accept. Her mind was still frazzled, her body lacking any movement or feeling. She was sure her hair was in complete disarray. She could barely do anything let alone move her jaw to snap at the senseless blonde.

Barely audible and in an exhausted voice, she murmured, "I... It's okay, Naruto... It's fine..."

"Yay! She lives!" He yelled, making the dazed female wince.

'_Could he _talk_ any louder?_' she mused bitterly to herself, trying to dismiss the pounding in her skull.

"Should we take her to the nurse, Anko-San?" Gai asked, concern flowing into his midnight black orbs.

The purple-haired woman shook her head. "Nah! Hikari is a tough gal! She just needs a moment, and she'll bounce right back!"

"Who's going to carry her back though? I doubt she could move a finger in her pitiful condition."

Before Anko could reply, Naruto chirped up with a bright grin crossing his lips, "Oh, don't worry, Gai-sensei! Kari-chan said she was just fine!"

"Loser, you must be deaf because she clearly said..."

"Look! See?" In mere moments, Naruto released the lifeless Kikuchi from his rough grasp, allowing her to fall into the rocky track floor.

"Owies..." she whimpered. "That really hurt..."

"Ack! Hikari!!!"

"Baka... Well, since you two were the morons to render my poor Hi-chan to this soporific state, you two shall bring her back inside," Anko declared, already ambling her way towards the school building.

"But, Anko-Sensei!"

Gai quickly shushed the whining young boys, chiding them that they must atone for his actions and walked away.

The dark-haired and blonde lost all will to argue any further with their instructors, their silhouettes waning in the cover of the school's shadows. No matter what they said, they knew they would certainly lose.

They both looked down to the almost lifeless female, a ragged expression glazing her blank steel-blue irises.

The soft brush of air rustled their tendrils as students finally began crossing the finish line, shuffling their sweaty torsos back into the gymnasium.

Of course, the tranquility did not last for very long. The loudest and most uncouth of the two boys was the first to speak. "So... how are we going to do this?"

The stoical Uchiha scrutinized the prostrate Kikuchi, gingerly nudging her with his shoes. No response arose from her lips, failing to denote any signs the girl was still living.

Sasuke shrugged his broad shoulders. "You carry her feet and I'll carry her upper body... Anko-sensei would murder us if we let Hikari-San die from the heat..."

Naruto nodded his head. The two painlessly lifted Kari off the ground.

'_... She must be malnourished if she's this light. I would have expected her dense mind to way me down at least..._' Sasuke thought, holding the girl delicately in his arms. He almost felt apprehensive that she would shatter at any moment if he was not careful.

"Okay! Come on! We can't be the last ones inside!" Naruto exclaimed, readying his feet to dash forward.

Somehow Kari was able to discern the blonde's actions through her tired haze. Trepidation spiked her veins, allowing her enough strength to speak.

"No, Naruto!" Sasuke and Hikari screamed... But it was all too late.

A blonde blur rushed forward, dragging behind an Uchiha and a screaming Kikuchi.

//=x=\\

"Jeez... Kari-chan, I feel so bad for you," Sakura said, grimacing as the silver-haired girl lay inanimately on the wooden bench.

"Er... I suppose we should have said something about Sasuke and Naruto's competitions, shouldn't we?" Hinata said, her pale lavender irises gazing worriedly at her.

Kari replied impassively, "That would have been nice..."

As Naruto ran back inside, he jerked her raw muscles wildly, accentuating the pain the rattled her very bones. It enveloped her tendons and muscles in a thick veil of pain, slowly pervading through every point of her body.

'_Moron... First he made me run in that intense heat, shook me uncontrollably, and now this!_' Kari groused, leering at the blonde as he competed with Sasuke for the basketball on the other side of the gym.

"So what is wrong with those two anyway? I suspected them to be mentally troubled before, but this is simply absurd."

Sakura quickly interjected, "Its all Naruto's doing! He's simply a nutcase!"

Kari eyed the pink-haired female curiously, feeling no voice to spurn such an incongruous statement. She found the obsidian-eyed boy to be much crazier than the blonde.

She turned her silver head to Hinata, who took full liberties to offer a more plausible explanation.

"It's just this strange thing they do! Ever since they were younger they engaged in continual competitions, especially physical ones."

"Of course, Sasuke always wins! He's so awesome..." the pink fan girl crooned, a pale blush creeping up her neck.

Kari simply dismissed Sakura's swooning and goaded Hinata to continue. "But what does my near deathly experience have to do with that?"

Hinata grinned wryly and replied, "Well they... Get really into it so to speak. Most people stay away to avoid getting injured."

"Oh... And of course, since I'm new I get to learn that the hard way. What joy!"

"Aw, It's alright, Kari-chan. It could have happened to anyone," Sakura assured.

The tired Kikuchi lethargically nodded her head, gently lifting her torso to a proper sitting position. She shrugged her shoulders at the very thought, knowing only that misfortune could befall on her of all people.

Sakura gingerly inquired, "Um, Kari? May I ask you a question? It may sound a little... Strange."

The silvery female gazed at pink Haruno curiously. Her green orbs seemed to be analyzing Kari's countenance, predicting in her intelligent mind a valid response.

Even though her intuition demanded she spurn her request, her own body felt much too tired to protest. Kari inhaled a profuse amount of air, allowing it to settle within her lungs before slowly exhaling it out.

"Kay, Sakura. What is it?"

Her emerald eyes sparkled at Kari's acquiescence. Sakura cleared her throat, preparing her word choice carefully. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Sakura frantically asked, "What was it like to be near Sasuke?!"

Her silvery blue orbs blinked several times, gawking at the inquiring female skeptically. Was she seriously asking her that question? Sakura surely is above those sorts of trifle things, especially anything related to being a fan girl. Sakura must be pulling her leg or something!

But seeing that glittery sparkle of anticipation, awaiting anxiously for Kari's reply, it did make the silvery female think otherwise.

'_Great... Sakura is in fan girl mode..._'

Just as the silver girl was going let the pinkette down gently, an influx of queries rushed out from Sakura's lips.

"How did he look? How did his shirt feel? How did he smell? Ooh, I heard even his sweat smelled good!"

Again, Kari was rendered to a state of speechlessness.

'_What the hell...? Great! This is Sakura's __obsessed__ fan girl mode..._'

"Sakura, first of all, that's totally gross. I would not, in my wildest and craziest dreams, want to smell Sasuke in all his sweatiness," Kari replied, repressing her urgent need to gag at the very thought. "Second of all, I was kind of too busy screaming my head off and being dragged to take any notice of Sasuke or Naruto. Thirdly, I don't think I care."

"It's worth the try..." Sakura dragged a good amount of air into her lungs before pushing it right out. "No one has ever been in such close proximity to him. If I was a little more psychotic and not your friend, I'd probably be very jealous of you."

"Gladly, I doubt I know anyone that is loony enough to stoop so low as that!" Kari smirked, oblivious to a murderous glare emanating from the court...

"Okay, good job everyone! We're going to rotate!" Anko exclaimed, signaling the end of the round with her whistle.

The silver-haired female felt her stomach lurch, her heart block all air from reaching her lungs.

'_Please don't ask one of us to go down... Don't speak to us..._'

"Okay, since Ino's out, which one of you three lovely ladies would like to join them in a fun game of hockey?" Anko queried the three girls, inciting a mental curse in Kari's mind.

None of the three spoke up, all feeling much too exhausted to do much of anything. The mile had drained all three of valuable energy needed to continue gym.

"Seeing you all are much too lazy to participate in any way, I'll ask it this way," The purple-haired instructor suggested, eyeing the three of them warily. "Which one of you bums haven't played yet?"

Sakura and Hinata both chirped that they had, relieved that they no longer have to participate any further. The newest augmentation to the school felt completely different.

"Anko-sensei, you must be picking on your students or something because that question is definitely directed towards a certain someone, namely me," Kari griped.

"Well it wouldn't be fair to let one of these guys to go another time when a little lazy girl didn't even go."

"But I suffered a nearly fatal experience! I'm still physically unwell to go out and kill myself in that hell with hockey sticks."

"You just don't want to do anything. You've always been a strong girl. You can handle this, Hi-chan!" Anko encouraged. Seeing that defiant expression implant itself in the silver-haired girl's countenance, the instructor ordered, "Just move your fat, lazy ass out there already or else I get Kaka-San here to move it for you."

The young Kikuchi allowed fear to flow into her steel-blue eyes before contorting her mouth to a contemptuous scowl. In one agonizing movement, Hikari lifted herself off the wooden bench and headed down to the court.

"What do I have to do?" Hikari grumbled crossly under her breath, unable to look at the triumphant demeanor of her purple-haired teacher.

"Simple! You just have to play offense. Here's your stick!" Anko threw the sulky Kikuchi her hockey stick and waited for her to stand in her place. "See? Is it really that bad?"

"It won't be anything catastrophic as long as no one passes me that puck," Kari moaned. Red spheres whirled into a perfect circle, discrediting that comment entirely.

"Okay! Go!" With the deafening blare of a whistle, the game quickly commenced. The young Kikuchi stood unsurely in her place, watching as the hockey puck was passed between team members and hearing the quick thuds of stick smashing against the hardwood.

Hinata, Sakura, and Ino cheered Kari on, who dared not to move a single muscle. Ramifications would ensue if she even thinks about joining the game.

She amused herself by watching the most athletic out of her team. A girl with thick buns fluidly moved passed the clumps of opposing bodies, pushing the black puck with her stick with ease. When Kari was up at the bleachers, she watched in awe how easily that girl could score goals right after another. How she wished she had her skill… she surely would want to score at least one goal.

"New girl, head's up!"

"Huh?" Arousing herself from her dreamlike trance, Kari dropped her gaze down to the wooden flooring. Her oceanic gray eyes widened, discerning a black sphere spinning its way towards her hockey stick. "I thought I said don't pass the puck to me!"  
The silver-haired female searched frantically for her other team members. Most of them were guarding the opposition from reaching the puck. A swarm of enemy players encompassed the star player of the team at every point, quashing any further movement.

She looked up at Kari with her bright brown eyes, encouraging her to go forward.

It wasn't like Kari didn't know why. The goal was wide open since no one bothered to guard her (She barely bothered to move so the others found no need to watch her).

'…_Guess I should have been careful what I wish for…_'

With a quick inhalation of air, Kari stumbled forward, shuffling the little puck awkwardly with her hockey stick.

Cheers from Sakura, Hinata, and Ino echoed in her ears.

Not many people noticed Kari's race towards the goal, providing no impediments or hindrances. '_I think I can do this… I can actually do this!_'

Then there she was, standing before the goal. Almost impossible for her to miss.

'_Yes! This is it! I'm actually going to score a point!_' Thrilled by the very idea, the silvery girl raised her hockey stick to smack the puck right into the net…

It may have went in if it wasn't for a sudden blur of red tackling right the unsuspecting Kikuchi.

Kari collapsed onto the floor, pain perforating through her back. The puck simply slid to the side… _**away**_ from the goal.

"Oops! Sorry about that!"

After recollecting her frazzled wits, Kari looked upwards to see a pair of ruby orbs gazing down on her with condescending eyes.

The redhead's physical assault wasn't completely successful. The girl with the bun managed to break through the crowd and score the goal.

"Maybe you better luck next time!" With a contemptuous grin spreading across her lips, Karin whipped her head away from the shocked Kikuchi as she resettled herself in her respective place.

Kari slowly rose to her feet, allowing anger to darken her aqueous orbs.

'_Oh, it's on!_' Kari thought, gripping her hockey stick roughly in her arms. '_Two can play it that game…_'

//=x=\\

The game slowly increased in intensity. After Karin's little assault on the newest player on the field, Kari did what any girl in her position would do: **fight back**.

'_If Karin thinks I'm going to stand by and take her crap, oh… she has another thing coming!_'

Silver and red clashed continuously. Whenever Karin dared body slam silver to the wall, Kari was not reluctant to push her right back with even greater vigor.

To Kari, this was a battle - a scuffle that she couldn't afford to lose.

Both soon took their places in the middle, the round puck sitting fearfully between their furious sticks.

Hikari felt her hair cling to her sweaty neck, soaked with droplets of sweat. Her dark, navy eyes glared only at Karin.

Karin's spite seemed to radiate from her scarlet orbs, inundating from her black spectacles. Her lips were pressed to a tight, angry line.

Silence manifested itself, shrouding the humid air with its suffocating veil.

Both girls' flexed their muscles, awaiting the chance to pounce.

"How dare you..."

Kari felt herself slip from her furious disposition, surprised by the dark murmur of abhorrence that oozed from Karin's lips like venom.

"How dare you!" she screamed, her fiery orbs flaring into angry flames.

"What's the matter, crazy? What did I do?" Kari interrogated, truly at a loss what was going on in her misconstrued red mind.

"Oh, I'll tell you why!" Karin yelled and illuminated in a more booming voice, "How dare you be so close to Sasuke-kun during the mile practice!"

Her shrill voice echoed in the large gymnasium, attaining everyone's undivided attention. Heads swiveled towards the two. Even the basketball game in the other side of the gym ceased, observing the two with inquiring eyes.

The shocked Kikuchi barely paid any heed to them, ignoring their gazes as they burned into her back. She was far too flabbergasted by Karin's response.

"You're blaming _**me**_ for that?" Kari cried. "How is it my fault that I got stuck between those two morons?!"

"Don't you dare play dumb with me! You could have kept your distance, but no. You had to get in the middle with whatever idiocy Naruto thought of! I bet you _wanted_ to be near my Sasuke-kun," the redhead retorted. "And how dare you call Sasuke an idiot. I can perfectly comprehend that blonde-haired loudmouth, but I thought I told you to stop talking trash about Sasuke!"

"First of all, I'm new. I never expected those two to get so into their competition they would squeeze me like a pancake. Second of all, you can keep your Sasuke-_kun_. I definitely didn't want to be in arms distance of him!" Kari shuddered at the very thought before continuing, "Lastly, you think **Naruto** is loud? You might want to turn up your hearing aid a because you certainly have a bigger mouth!!"

Karin's face simmered into bright crimson, her blazing irises desiring to incinerate the mordant Kikuchi into a fine power.

"You just don't know when to shut your trap, do you?" Karin mumbled ominously under her breath. Nerves of all sizes pulsated around her rosy forehead. Her hands gripped the stick tightly in her long, spindly fingers. "I'll show you!"

Many of the girl's gasped as they watched the stick ascend into the air and rush down to strike a silver mop of hair. A pair of steel-blue orbs widened.

'_I have to move!_'

As the stick closed in on it's desired target, a scream pierced the air. A loud thud reverberated throughout the gym.

* * *

Oh... my... god! Did Kari get hit by Karin? Is she going to be alright? You guys just have time find out next time to see!

Again, this may have turned out a little rough. It is my day back and I may edit it in the future.

But anyway thanks for reading... R&R please? (Read and review? I don't ask this often, but it may help relieve some of the stress off my mind...)

Advance note: I'm going on vacation soon, and I'm leaving... Saturday or Sunday I believe? I may be gone all next week, depending whether there's internet access at our hotel or not.


	8. Chapter 8

Kari: Yo, writer person!! What did you do to me?!

Me: Hey! I never gave you permission to speak.

Kari: That is not important. I just want to know if I'm going to find myself in a hospital or not! I mean, come on! Letting psychotic Karin attack me like that? Seriously! The audacity! The gall! _The nerve!_ T.T

Me: Why don't you shut up so readers can find out. I wrote you into this story, and I can easily write you out of it.

Kari: O.o *Gulp* F...fine. Mean writer... Threatening her characters...

Me: Now let's find out whether or not Kari is placed in a hospitalized setting! The chances have greatly increased because of a _certain_ _someone_.

Kari: Aw come on! At that rate, this will be a very short story... It sounds as if this is turning into a death fanfic, and I for one don't want to be the one that dies!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Entering: Martial Artistry**

Usually, Uchiha Sasuke never paid any attention to the drama that occurred on the daily basis. He found it a waste of air and time. It always annoyed him, especially when the girls argued. They always were bickering – **_screaming_** really when there is no reason to yell over such asinine things. Karin had proved repeatedly to be the perfect example of the kind of screaming females he preferred to avoid.

But there he stood, listening, actually _watching_ the argument unfold on the other side of the gym. He didn't comprehend why he was even paying attention to it. It certainly couldn't be who was the target of the raucous verbal onslaught.

It was that girl's freakin' fault anyway. If she wasn't so stupid and had such a big mouth, she wouldn't have even _thought_ of picking a fight with the most temperamental female in the entire school.

Still, no matter how true those facts were, the Uchiha could not tear his eyes away from the cantankerous girl, her long, gray tendrils escaping from their elastic bindings. It just didn't make any sense in his mind...

"I'll show you!"

Then everything that occurred next seemed to move in slow motion. Karin's straight edge was rushing towards its specified target - Kikuchi Hikari.

Fear flashed in her steel-blue eyes. She had to move - fast. If she remained idle for any longer, she may find herself with a fatal head injury.

Only a scream sliced through his haze. Who even was it? Ino? No, it sounded more like Sakura... Maybe another female classmate?

His mind waved the thought away, quickly predicting the turn of events as they occurred.

As the implemented weapon finally smashed into the target, Kari would simply move out of the way...

'_Wait... What?_'

He mentally replayed the events, dubious whether the occurrences truly transpired.

The deathly strike should have hit her - **should have** being the operative phrase.

At the very last moment, Kari was able to evade the strike, sidestepping with some grace that was almost uncharacteristic of her.

When Kari was shuffling the hockey stick, she looked completely awkward. She could not be that fluid in movement.

'_Well, well. Kari surely is full of surprises..._' For a split moment, Sasuke was remotely impressed, listening to the hockey stick smash into the wooden flooring with a loud thud.

Of course, he also had a precognition her luck wouldn't last for very long. She simply was too awkward and clumsy to be that fortunate.

Just as that thought raced through his mind, Kari accidentally (and somehow predictably) stepped on top of the hockey puck, slipped, and crashed onto the ground right on her buttocks.

"Ouchies..." she whined, rubbing her poor backside. Disappointment flickered over her features, upset that her attempt to look cool was foiled by a puck.

'_Knew it. Once a loser, always a loser._' All praise that the stoical Uchiha felt (and would never say) officially passed.

But his classmates did not feel that way. Most of their eyes widened into large saucers; the more boorish and uncouth of the scholars allowed their mouths to hang and nearly sweep the wooden floors.

"How the hell did you do that?" Karin asked, her crimson orbs also wide with shock, as Kari rose to her feet.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kari responded cockily, her mouth curved to a condescending grin. "Goodness, you almost got me worried too... Well, I did say _almost_, ne?"

'_Baka! She just _has_ to push her luck..._' Sasuke thought, watching as Karin dismissed her amazement over the feat and focusing on her original blazing rage.

Karin yelled, "Well I don't plan on missing this time!"

The redhead chased the silvery Kikuchi with her hockey stick, swinging it wildly in hopes to strike the gray-blue eyed female.

Kari dodged all feeble attempts, running away from the livid girl as fast as she could.

One strike almost did hit its mark, but Kari blocked it with her own stick. Kari leaned back, pushing back Karin's stick with her own. Both stood in a total impasse. Neither irate females seemed inclined to move a single inch.

Karin was the first to move. She dropped her stick down to her side... Not calculating the amount of weight Kari placed onto _her_ stick.

The moment the redhead moved hers, the silvery girl lost her bearings, accidentally letting her stick drop and smack Karin right in the face.

Both girls toppled to the ground. The main difference was that Karin displayed a rather glaring red mark on her forehead.

Karin groaned, rubbing her sore head with her fingers. Anger effervescently glowed from her orbs as she sprang to her feet.

"Damn you, Hikari! How dare you hit me!?"

Still in disoriented haze, the Kikuchi mumbled, "It wasn't on purpose. You were trying to annihilate me for god's sakes. I was just acting in self-defense."

Karin sneered. "Well I'll show you self-defense! Maybe a good smack on your big head would knock some sense into you."

Kari froze in her place, unable to orient herself enough to maneuver herself out of the way. She simply watched Karin as she raised the stick to deliver the final blow.

"Whoa, whoa! Guys, stop fighting!" Anko exclaimed, holding the girl's hockey stick before it crashed down. "Just chill out."

"I think that's a little too late to say that, Anko-San," Gai pointed out, coinciding with the dark-haired boy's thoughts. He stood in between the two females, acting as a physical barrier. "Maybe you should have stopped it a little sooner?"

"Aw! But it was actually getting good," teased the purple haired female. Seeing Gai give her a sharp gaze of disapproval, Anko sighed and said sternly, "Okay, you two. Since this is Hikari-San's first day, I'm letting this little skirmish pass. If this ever happens again, I'm sending you to Tsunade-sama to provide a fitting punishment. Hear me?"

"Yes, Anko-sensei..."

"Now I want everyone out of here. Class is dismissed!" Gai bellowed.

//=x=\\

'_Finally... The last class of the day_,' Kari lazily thought in her mind, dragging her feet to her respective classroom.

Gym had drained her of so much energy. Not only did Karin's little psychotic stunt tire her, she also still felt sore from Naruto's foolishness.

How she was relieved to hear her teachers end class a few minutes early! If she had to continue gym, she would be rendered into a state analogous to deceased.

'_Anko surely is an incorrigible woman._' She thought, remembering Anko collect their sticks, whispering she did a good job and sneaking a thumbs up.

Karin simply glared at her, shooting an unladylike finger right at her. A few students rushed to her side, asking if she's well and swooning she cool she looked.

One student was especially impressed. At the end of class, she had discovered the athletic female was Ten Ten, who also held a strong distaste for skirts.

'_Ah, I'm going to get along with her fine! One of the sanest people I met!_'

Sasuke did not offer much input on the topic. He simply directed her to her last class and was off.

'_Figures... I knew he wouldn't care. I bet he would be content if that fruit basket **did** kill me!_'

She was really lucky. If she wasn't well-versed in self defense, namely martial arts, she may have not been able to get out of the way. Ten Ten even inquired if she wished to join the Martial Arts Club. Kari apparently had the natural reflexes. She would be a great addition.

Sadly, Kari declined. She was in no mood to join a martial arts club. She has enough to deal with at the moment. She promised she would join one day though.

Finally breaking Kari from her irritated thoughts, the classroom finally materialized before her.

"This looks like this is it."

After all... How many art rooms did the school have? Kari hoped there was only one.

As she entered the art room, all stress seemed to lift from her shoulders. She knew this was going to be her haven, her place to recover her sanity after a grueling day!

'_And how grateful I am that block of stone is not an artist!_' As a smile spread over her lips at the very thought, Kari trotted forward to grab a seat before class begun. '_Yes! No more Sasuke!_'

"Good afternoon, Kikuchi Hikari-san," a mysterious voice greeted her from behind.

Her blood ran cold. Her heart momentarily ceased beating.

'_No…_'

That voice…that deadpanned tone of voice… Could it really be him?

'_No!! It couldn't be Uchiha! He even said we had a different class at the end of the day!_'

With her breath stagnant, her heart wedging itself deep in her throat, Kari slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice.

Instead of breaking down into tears, she screamed. Her heart nearly leaped for joy.

"AH! SAI!!" She squealed, embracing the sable-haired male with her arms. "I can't believe you actually are here too!"

"Well I wanted to keep it a surprise," he replied, a light smile curving his lips. "Who'd you expect?"

Kari scowled as her mind evoked one name. "You don't want to know."

"Anyway… Kari? Can you please let me go? I enjoy respiring."

"Oops! Sorry!" Kari quickly released him from her grasp. "I was just so happy to know my best friend is at this insane asylum they call a school!"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if we would even have one class together," he said.

The two both quickly took their seat near each other. Class quickly begun, and the class proctor was named Yuhi Kurenai. She allowed the class to paint whatever their heart desires, officially making it Kari's favorite class.

"So how's everyone, Kari?" Sai asked, gently stroking his easel that stood right next to hers. "How many people did you scare away?"

"Oh, and this is coming from one of the most unsociable person in the entire school?" She teased. Seeing Sai failed to offer any response to her banter, Kari sighed and said, "Well, it certainly was not my ideal way of starting my first day."

"Oh really? Elaborate."

"Well for starters, I'm beginning to dislike that headmistress, Tsunade."

"Don't be too mad at her," Sai interjected. "She's just taking out her frustration on others because she can't drink as much as she wants anymore."

"That would explain so much…" The silver-haired female giggled at the very thought. "But the reason for my growing umbrage for the blonde hag is because she assigned me the most detestable escort I have ever met!"

"Now I'm actually curious. Who is the lucky person?" Sai inquired.

With a low growl, she replied, "Uchiha Sasuke. He's one of two people I hope I never have to see ever again."

"Two people? Who's the other person?"

"That redhead big mouth Karin! She certainly gets under my skin."

"That's understandable. She's a tactless, moronic airhead," he commented impassively. "But why Uchiha Sasuke? He's not –oh! He's that insensitive emo boy! Yeah, never mind."

Kari chuckled, commenting how sensitive and tactful Sai can be. He rolled his obsidian orbs and inquired on a lighter subject, "So other than those perfectly "charming" individuals, have you met anyone else?"

"Well I think I actually made some friends," Hikari said casually, glaring at her artistic friend when he chuckled at the word. "There's Yamanaka Ino…"

"That blonde bimbo," Sai piped up.

Kari gazed at him for a few moments before continuing, "Haruno Sakura…"

"The sycophantically neurotic fan girl with the large forehead."

"…Uzumaki Naruto."

"The lewd and noisy freak of nature."

"…And Hyuuga Hinata."

"The silent wallflower!"

"Do you have an insult for every person on this planet?" Kari queried.

"Of course," Sai replied. "I even have ones for you. Of course, I won't say them to your face because you may find them a bit mean."

She sarcastically drawled, "Oh, thanks so much. At least I know you can be so sensitive."

With a roll of his dark spheres, he then changed the topic. "So where are you staying?"

"I'm staying with Kakashi-san. Where else?"

"Ah… that strange, lazy drunkard… Poor soul. He won't last a moment with a nutcase such as yourself."

"Sai, you're so mean!" she cried, gently socking his arm. "I'm not that bad."

"If that's what you wish to believe…"He sniggered lightly. "But I'm glad to see you're in such a good mood! I was sort of expecting you to be in a sort of melancholy state after all you've been through."

Suddenly his chuckling ceased. Kari's gaze dropped down to the tiled floorings. Her bright silvery blue orbs retained a luster equivalent to glass, watery droplets beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

Sai drew in a deep inhale, awkwardly reaching an arm out to touch her shoulder. "Jeez… Sorry, Hi-chan. I just sort of assumed you…"

"It's okay, Sai. I understand. If you try comforting me any further I may actually break down into tears," Hikari joked, grinning slightly and blinking away any liquids that pooled into her eyes.

"Oh thank god. I didn't even know what to say!" Sai released a relieved breath before wisely choosing another topic. "So how's your painting?"

"I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I'm at a total loss," she admitted and turned her head towards the sable-haired male. "Can I see what you're painting? Maybe it could help rouse my artistic mind."

Sai nodded his head. "I suppose so. I am just dismayed to inform you that this is not my best work."

The silvery girl rolled her orbs into a full circle. '_Knowing Sai as well as I do, I should be expecting something…_'

Her mouth dropped.

"Extraordinary…" She mumbled, rendered into an unintelligible state of awe. "Are you serious? You actually think this is not your best work?"

The overall piece was exquisite, flecked with a rainbow of color that blended together to form a breathtaking array of color.

"It's nothing special. Just splashed on different colors. It's just another piece of abstract art," he shrugged, sitting back in his seat to fully observe his artwork.

The female scowled in response, resettling herself in her seat. "Just shut up. If I had an even a quarter of your talent, I'd be rich by now."

"Why don't you quit your chatter and actually work, huh?" He suggested without any embellishment, reworking on his own art piece. Grumbling under her breath, Kari complied, turning her attention towards her nearly blank easel.

//=x=\\

"So do you need an escort walking home?" Sai offered when the final blare of the bell reverberated throughout the school building.

The silvery Kikuchi shook her head. "Nah, Kakashi-san promised he would guide me out. Maybe later you could come over, and we could catch up?"

With a slight nod of his head, the artist waved his friend goodbye and walked away.

Even though Kari walked in a different direction all by her lonesome, she felt strangely light, joyous that her long-time friend shared at least on class with her. It made the excruciating day seem more bearable.

Soon enough her buoyant heart plummeted back down to reality.

'_Damn it… I should have asked Sai how to get back to the entrance or where Kakashi's room is…_' she thought, inwardly smacking herself for her blunder.

She looked around, searching for some sort of comfort – a sign or even a person that could placate her restless soul.

No matter how many ways she wanted to look at it, the silvery Kikuchi was unconditionally irrevocably… **lost**.

'_Curse me and my fallible sense of direction!_'

Not a single soul seemed to occupy the quiet institution, making Kari feel even more ill at ease. With her spirits tumbling into the dank, melancholy abyss, she forlornly shuffled forward and rested her head on a nearby ledge.

'_Whoa… this is pretty high._'

To her left, a thin line of stairways spiraled down to the level below, which in her eyes, seemed like a long ways down.

A slight tremble ripped through her body, forcing her to step back, hugging her books close to her chest.

'_Maybe I should trapeze my way down to the bottom floor. The exit has to be around there at least._'

Just as the new scholar nodded her head, waving away any thoughts of acrobatics and anything related to a trapeze (With her luck that thought may become reality), a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Yo, Hikari, where do you think _you're_ going?"

The silver girl's lips contorted into an irritated pout, repressing her urge to groan. She slowly pivoted from the soles of her feet and turned to face the owner of the voice.

'_Seriously, why me? What have I done to face… **her**?_'

With a shake of her long tendrils of lustrous silver, Kari replied, "Well I sort of was hoping to walk home. It's been a long day, and I could use the rest. Now if you and your friends could kindly step aside, I'll be going…"

She tried taking a quick step to her right, using her peripheral vision to focus on her goal: the staircase. Sadly, one of Karin's cronies stepped into view, blocking her first way of escape.

In one fluid motion, Kari turned to her other side to only be stopped by another of Karin's followers.

Karin towered over her, her countenance hard and emotionless. Kari swallowed hard, hugging her books closer to her chest.

She was trapped. "Or maybe not. I suppose I can hang around here for a little bit. I'm not in a hurry. My house will still be in the same place as I left it this morning."

"You shouldn't be so tense, Hikari. I only wanted to have a nice… chat with you," Karin said calmly – a placidity much too uncharacteristic for her usually fiery personality. It made the redhead seem more unpredictable - _dangerous_ even.

"Well conversation is always nice. I do enjoy conversing with others," she rambled, feeling like a babbling idiot. "Whatever about?"

"Simple. You and me. Rematch. Right now," the redhead challenged, poking Kari's shoulder to provoke her.

The young Kikuchi stumbled back a little, but swiftly regained her composure. She carefully processed her words in her mind. "So let me get this straight. You want… a rematch? Is this because of what happened at gym?"

"What else? You _humiliated_ me in front of everyone with that fancy footwork. I just want to prove to you I can totally whoop your bony ass and show you who's the boss around here."

Kari blinked several times, gazing at the challenger with a completely unreadable expression.

"What's it going to be, Kikuchi? Are you in or out?"

Seconds ticked by as the silver-haired girl remained emotionless. The air itself seemed stagnant.

Suddenly Karin received a reaction she never expected – one that made her blood boil.

**Kari laughed.**

"Oh god! You just crack me up!" she choked out in between giggles.

"I seemed to have missed the joke," Kari said, her voice strained and tight with fury. "What's so funny?"

After she fully calmed hilarity to a more acceptable level, Kari admitted, "It's just I never realized you're such a sore loser!"

"W…**What**?"

"Yeah, you heard me. You can't stand losing to anyone. So you have to pretend to act all tough and all to conceal your wounded pride. How pathetic."

Karin didn't bother to offer a response. She dropped her head slightly, just enough to hide an irritated nerve that pulsated from her reddening temples. Her shoulders trembled.

"Now if you're done, I suggest you just leave. I have no further business with a gangly coward like you."

'_…Sore…loser?_' Her teeth clenched. Her fists tightened. All blood drained from her knuckles, leaving behind a ghastly shade of white.

Seeing Karin refused to budge, Kari shrugged her shoulders, turning away to gaze out to the bottom floor.

'_…Pathetic?_' Her crimson orbs burned into Kari's clean uniform shirt, radiating with malice and abhorrence.

"A… coward?! You called me a coward and **pathetic**?!"

The silent Kikuchi felt her shoulders instinctively grow taut, but feigned obliviousness.

Karin was just letting off steam. She was all bark no bite after all. She was bound to leave if she failed to respond.

…or so she believed.

"Let's see who's the pathetic one now!"

Alarmed by the ferocity of her voice, Kari intrinsically turned around.

But she was much too slow.

The silver female felt her body collapse backwards passed the protective railings, flying out into open space.

//=x=\\

'_Idiot…_' Sasuke thought, looking up from the bottom floor, watching the girls that stood on the second floor. '_Kikuchi just doesn't know when to shut her trap._'

The impassive Uchiha arrived at his certain location (hidden from the gaze of a certain silver-haired someone) when Karin walked up to her, challenging her to something… He deliberated something stupid so he didn't truly care.

It was impossible for him to ignore it though. The obsessive redhead just did not know what a little thing called an 'inside voice' was. It seemed even louder because barely anyone remained. The ones that did occupy some space were also gazing upwards, watching them.

Then after a few moments had passed the designated prey began laughing hysterically, muttering something that surely hit Karin's volatile nerves.

With her fiery locks, Sasuke thought she was as unstable was an active volcano, ready to erupt.

"A… coward?! You called me a coward and **pathetic**?!" Karin said ominously, her ruby orbs aflame with rage.

The dark-haired male just rolled his obsidian orbs. '_Hn… If Hikari doesn't watch her tongue, she's going to get herself killed…_'

"Let's see who's the pathetic one now!"

Suddenly, the Uchiha held his breath.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Just as Kari turned around to face the irascible redhead, Karin pushed Kari passed the protective railing and down towards the tiled flooring.

'_Moron! I knew something like this would happen!_'

Soon his body reacted, unconsciously racing towards the falling girl.

Several schoolmates gathered around the certain spot, gasping as a blur of silver rushed helplessly towards the floor

'_Kari don't worry_,' Sasuke thought, pushing passed the tight coveys of students that were frozen in their place. '_I'm going to save you if it's the last thing I do…_'

* * *

*****_**At the Beginning of Story**_*****

Kari: Oh wow! Now that's what I'm talking about. TAKE THAT KARIN! ^o^

*****_**Towards the End**_*****

Kari: O.O WHAT?! You can't be serious, writer person! You **_are_** trying to kill me!

Me: Well your death is not certain. If your hero manages to rescue you, you might live!

Kari: If? M… Might? Ah, crap… I am going to die. Knowing Uchiha, he's just going to let me fall and splatter into a million pieces…

Me: *Rolls eyes* Anyways, will Sasuke run to save Kari?

Kari: Will I die?!

Me: -__- … will Kari stop popping out of nowhere to speak?

Kari: Ah, come on! You gave me permission. It was just **implied**! :D

Me: Whateve... I officially give up.

Kari: Yeah! And to personally thank Hikari-letel-blood (Devoted reader and reviewer) and AnImEwIlLRuLe (Newest reviewer!) for the reviews, and for all those who favorited/alerted this story!

Me: Truly appreciate it! ^__^ Okay, I found out my hotel had wi-fi so since we're doing nothing.... I'm updating my stuff! YAY UPDATING ON VACATION!


	9. Chapter 9

Kari: *Bites nails nervously*

Me: Kari, why are you so nervous?

Kari: Pfft… Like you don't know why! I'm nervous because I'm not sure whether I'll crash onto the floor and die.

Me: Well… I can't say yet, but I can assure you that there will be some sort of pain involved. :D

Kari: WHAT?! O.O

Me: Anyway, let the story commence!

Kari: *Crosses Fingers* Please let me live… Please let me live…

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Entering: The Fall: An Unexpected Hero**

Weightlessness.

Buoyancy.

Hikari figured these words were the only ones that could truly describe this feeling of freefalling from the sky.

She almost didn't even remember falling in the first place.

But here she was falling to her death - completely helpless.

The journey itself felt eternal, long-lasting, but the ad infinitum drop was probably just her imagination - her waning senses playing mind games with her.

It would only be moments before she came to her climax - her death.

'_This has to be it…_' she wondered.

Her breath grew hollow. Her pale lids slowly slid over her blue-gray irises.

'_Only a miracle can save me now…_'

And honestly, Hikari was not sure if there really **are** miracles.

Her luck was completely awful that whole entire day. Being paired up with the stuck-up Uchiha, nearly having Karin crush her into a fine powder… There's no way she could experience something like a miracle.

…that is until at that moment.

"KARI!"

Her eyes struggled to remain open, resisting the murky shadows.

'_W…who… Who is that?_'

"Kari, hold on!"

"H…Help. Help me please…" the girl whispered as she felt herself dive in the darkness.

Suddenly the sensation ceased as gravity finally set in.

Did she fall? Is this what death feels like?

"Kari, I got you. You're safe now."

Her gray orbs fluttered open as she felt strong arms wrapped tightly around her frame. She slowly looked up to see her savior's face.

She blinked several times. She could not believe her eyes.

'_I must be seeing things… This has to be my dream…_' she thought, staring blankly at her rescuer. '_But, there's no way I would dream about __him__!_'

This time, Kari could see her savior's face clearly.

"S…Sasuke? Is that actually you?" She inquired, staring – gawking quite stupidly really – at the dark-haired boy, his lips curved something reminiscent to a smile. Her body still quaked from the fright, clinging on Sasuke's white shirt for dear life.

"What's it look like, Kikuchi? You're not blind are you?"

Just when she was about to allow a smile touch her lips and thank him… a startling realization dawned over her.

'_Wait a minute… Didn't I have books?_'

Gravity soon answered her question. First Sasuke was struck to the ground with a surprise onslaught of books, then Kari was hit squarely on her head with a heavy hardcover. They soon stumbled onto the floor, the violent novels lying innocently beside them.

"Ugh! Smooth move, Uchiha!" the silver-haired grumbled, recollecting herself after that stumble. She gently rubbed her skull, tender from the book attack. "I knew those books were detrimental to my health, but that is just ridiculous!"

"Just shut up, Kikuchi…" the prostrate Uchiha snarled, also rubbing his head.

A crowd of students emerged from seemingly out of nowhere, encompassing the two students. The females felt their eyes widen to two large plates. Even Karin, who gazed from the upper floor, was shocked, her mouth plummeting down towards the clean tiles.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Both dazed students looked up to see a blur of green push passed the tight clumps of adolescent bodies and walk towards them. "I will not have this sort of _erotic_ behavior in this institution! We demand decency in this school!!"

'_Er... __**WHAT**__?!_'

Sasuke and Kari soon looked at each other… and then at their overall position. Kari's head lay against Sasuke's broad chest, and their legs were intertwined.

Suddenly Kari felt her heart pump blood into her naturally rosy cheeks. She yelped; she and Sasuke quickly pulled apart, scooting as far away as physically possible

"There's no way we'd do anything like that!" the two shouted vehemently. Kari's face flushed even brighter from the very thought.

'_Yuckies..... I'm covered with Uchiha germs!!!_' she inwardly cried, scrubbing herself in an inane attempt to rid herself of cooties.

Gai scoffed, his dark eye obviously dubious. Everyone was too shocked by the whole arrangement to show any other emotion. Only Karin managed to convey her scorn that burned within her scarlet orbs.

Annoyed by the skepticism, the two yelled again, "We **hate** each other!!"

"Likely story... Gah! I knew I should have persuaded Anko into starting health class earlier this year... Oh, just wait until Tsunade-sama hears this!"

"Gai-sensei, that's unnecessary," reassured the dark-haired boy.

"Maybe if we explained the circumstances..." the female Kikuchi added, but Gai refused to hear any of it.

Lunging for the two's sensitive ear lobes, Gai dragged the two away. "I don't need to hear whatever 'circumstances' you two lovebirds made up in your young minds."

"We're not lovebirds!" They protested. Gai's answer was just a quick thrust of their lobes.

'_Owies.... This is all Karin's fault! Crazy fan girl..._'

//=x=\\

"Tsunade-sama!" Gai bellowed, barging into Tsunade's office.

Unfazed by the sudden appearance of the spandex man, Tsunade deterred her attention from her paperwork with a languid sigh and looked up. "What is it, Gai-San?"

In one effortless motion, Gai tossed the two students before the headmistress ad stated, "I caught these two involved in some very youthful and unsavory activities all naive love birds seem to do."

"For the last time, Gai-sensei, we're not lovebirds!" Kari yelled loudly. "We would never _**ever**_ do something like that."

"We can't even stand each other," Sasuke growled in a much calmer voice. "It wasn't like that at all."

"Alright, settle down you two," Tsunade said, assuaging the incensed adolescents. "Just tell me as calmly as possible what---"

"'I'll tell you what happened!"

Kari and Sasuke both screamed their explanations at exactly at the same time. Their voices blended together to form a vocal chaos.

"And that's what happened," they both concluded, panting from the outburst.

The blonde sat in her seat, gawking at the two. "Gai-San, did you get any of that gibberish? I'm lost."

As he shrugged his shoulders, ready to admit he also was just as lost, a voice spoke up, "I surely did."

Alarmed by the voice, the four of them turned around towards the voice.

"K... Kakashi?"

The white-haired man ambled his way through the door, his dark eye fixated on his beloved novel.

"You actually understood them, Kakashi-san?" Tsunade inquired, amazed by the very feat.

"Yep," he affirmed glibly. "The whole thing was much more innocent then it appeared."

Gai crossed his arms over his chest and challenged in a loud, almost accusatory voice, "Oh yeah. Really. Explain."

With a low sigh, Kakashi nodded his head indolently, shutting his book closed. "Long story short: Hikari-chan was pushed by one student, whose name will remain anonymous. Sasuke-kun saw her falling and rescued her."

"B...but do you have any proof? Evidence that vindicates their actions?" Gai asked, feeling his pride decrease as he realized his actions were almost brash and impulsive.

"Yep, I saw it all from the bottom floor."

"How about..."

"Anko and I were dealing with the person that pushed Hikari-chan off before I came here. That's why I came little late," interrupted Kakashi nonchalantly. "Anything else?"

Tsunade shook her head. "That sounds fine. I trust your perception, Kakashi-San. They're off the hook."

Hikari released a relieved sigh, Sasuke offered no input whether he was pleased about the exoneration, and Gai simply sniffled bitterly.

"That's what I expect of my greatest rival," mumbled the green beast. "He always acts so cool!"

"Now, you two run along now," Kakashi said, ignoring the dark-haired teacher completely. "I'll catch up with you later. I need to speak to Tsunade-sama before I leave."

The two students nodded their heads, rushing out the door.

"Phew... I was worried for a sec there!" Kari said with a joyous smile on her face. "And I am so glad Karin is getting punished for her dastardly deeds!"

"You wouldn't have been worried in the first place if you only were careful," Sasuke growled.

The silvery girl gasped. "What? Are you actually saying it was _**my**_ fault?"

"I'm not saying it's your fault," assured her escort. "I'm just saying if you were more cautious and held your tongue, you wouldn't have been in that mess."

"Ha! Like you actually care!" Kari shouted. "I don't even know how or why you saved me in the first place!"

Sasuke released a low sigh before he finally admitted, "Thank Karin's overtly large mouth. If it wasn't for her, I doubt I would have paid any attention."

"You... Were actually watching?"

The Uchiha nodded his head. "Yeah, I even saw you get pushed. Then before I knew it, my body just moved automatically after you."

Kari nodded her head in consideration, meditating his words in her mind. Suddenly, she giggled. "Wow! Does the heartless Uchiha actually care about little old me?"

Sasuke blinked several times, skeptical Kari truly was asking such an asinine questions. Seeing she was fully seriously, he quickly retorted, "No, I don't. I was only doing it as your escort. Tsunade-sama would murder me if I let you die on your very first day of school."

She simply nodded her head, sniggering under her breath. "Oh yes, of course. Very likely story."

He, in turn, shook his head, muttering crossly under his breath, "Loser..."

Just before Kari could taunt the irritable Uchiha any further, her guardian quickly appeared by her side. "Sorry, I took so long, Hikari."

"No problem! I was just having a pleasant conversation with Uchiha here. Right?" She said with a slight smirk. The dark-haired boy did not offer a response, glaring at the cheerful Kikuchi.

"Anyway, before we go, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of my little girl here. She can be a handful, but I really appreciate it," Kakashi said, discounting the scowl that fluttered over Kari's visage.

Sasuke blinked several times, trying to comprehend more how Hikari was related to Kakashi then the fact he was actually thanking her. Recalling Kari's earlier explanation, he simply nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Like I actually needed it..." Kari mumbled with a low snort.

Hearing her whining, Sasuke scoffed. "Right... A girl with the mentality of a three year old could have handled herself quite well while falling from the second floor..."

Just before Kari could burst into a blinding rage - ready to scream at the insolent boy - Kakashi stepped in between them. "Alright, I believe we had enough fights for one day. You need rest. Are you ready to leave?"

She quickly inhaled a deep breath to pacify herself and inquired, "Can I have a few minutes? I promise I won't be long or do anything physically harmful to Uchiha."

With her face completely unflappable, she waited patiently as her uncle scrutinized her countenance. Finally seeing that her words held some truth and the possibility of a brawl occurring was seemingly low, Kakashi sighed. "Fine. I'll be waiting for you at the entrance. You have two minutes. If you remain any longer then I will drag you out myself."

"Understood," Kari said with a slight nod.

The snowy haired instructor then sauntered out of their midst, opening up his pink book.

"Okay, Uchiha, this is going to kill me, but I feel I have to say it quickly," Kari said.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked defensively, bracing himself.

Kari swallowed both a lump and her pride. Her steely-blue orbs gazed right into his pools of black obsidian. She quickly blurted out, "Thank you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke nearly toppled over. Of all things Kari could have said, he certainly was not expecting that.

"W...what?" he asked, attempting to recollect his fallen composure. "What did you just say?"

"You just love making me suffer like this, don't you?" she accused. A sigh escape her lips as she repeated in a softer voice, "I will repeat myself once more and this will be the last time you ever hear me say this: thank you, Uchiha Sasuke, for saving me. Without you, I'd probably be a pancake and haunt Karin for the rest of my existence. I truly," she swallowed hard before spitting out, "Appreciate it."

Surprise flowed into his countenance, lighting his cold sable orbs. Fighting a smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips, he turned his head away and replied coolly, "Hn. Don't mention it, Aki..."

Just as a flicker of bliss spread over her countenance, her visage was overwhelmed by great shock. Her mouth nearly slacked and fell to the floor. She wasn't even shocked that he was almost smiling. Did she really hear him correctly? "Wait… what did you call me?"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows together, seeming to question what was Kari talking about. Suddenly, realization flooded into his eyes. All emotion was wiped from his face as Sasuke realized his verbal slip-up.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kikuchi. You must be hearing things," Sasuke said coolly, his overall countenance stoical, hardening to his traditional emotionless veneer.

"No, my hearing is perfectly fine, thank you," she corrected. "And I certainly did hear you say something."

Moments passed by as Kari stood adamantly in her place, awaiting for Sasuke to offer some sort of explanation. The Uchiha stood silently in his place, pondering his word choice carefully in his mind.

With a low grunt, Sasuke simply ambled his way passed the curious Kikuchi, walking down the hall away from her.

Kari stood motionless in her place, feeling confusion cross her features as she watched Sasuke walked away. '_What's Uchiha doing?_'

Then everything clicked.

"Oh! Now I get it!" She shouted. "Get back here!"

Kari dashed forward, running right after him. Hearing the stampede of her footsteps echo throughout the hall, Sasuke quickened his speed, turning his calm stroll to a full-out run.

"Wait! I'm not through with you!"

Soon Sasuke did a quick, sharp turn to his left, temporarily disappearing from her sight. Determined to catch up, Kari sped up, running right after him.

'_You're not getting away that easily!_'

Sadly, Sasuke was no longer in her view. All that surrounded her was pure silence.

"Apparently I stand corrected." She looked left and right, searching for even a glimpse of his midnight black locks. "Damn it… I lost him. Curse his speed… Stupid Uchiha…"

//=x=\\

"Hi-chan, is everything alright?" Kakashi lazily interrogated the silver-haired female as they walked out of the school building.

"Everything's just peachy, Kaka-chan! Why ever would you ask that?"

"Hmm… no reason I suppose," Kakashi said, using his periphery of his eyes to gaze at Kari. "I was just wondering why are you enveloped in such a dark, angry aura. It's spine chilling."

Kari offered no response. Malice and infuriation seemed to radiate from her small body, darkening her blue orbs into a deep navy. She ground her teeth, mumbling, "I hate Uchiha…"

"Well that's nice to know you got along so well with your escort," Kakashi remarked, drawing in a copious amount of air. "I was sure you would react better to him…"

"Why the hell would you think that?" Kari snarled. "No person could ever enjoy being in that arrogant boy's company unless your blind, deaf, and have a chemical imbalance in your brain."

Kakashi gazed at her irate navy orbs with his dark one before exhaling a languorous sigh. "No reason, I suppose. In time, I guess, you'll see…"

"Whatever…"

"So how was your first day of school?" he asked her cheerfully. "Any good?"

With a loud, unladylike snort, Kari spat out, "Well if you considered being paired up with that pretentious block of stone, almost getting killed by some psycho, and getting accused of performing some unsavory behavior 'good', then my day was freakin' amazing!" Kari released a loud harrumph. "Stupid school!"

Hearing the sarcasm, her pale-haired guardian chuckled. "Well, welcome to Konoha High, Hikari."

"Hey… you said that already." Kari pointed out.

"Well consider the first one as a necessary formality. This one is the official one, congratulating you that you actually survived the general insanity."

"And is it always like this?"

"I consider this school to be… much worse then today was!"

"Whoop-dee-freakin-doo… Just what I needed…" Kari grumbled crossly under her breath while Kakashi only laughed.

"Yep, this will be one heck of year."

* * *

Kari: Yay! The author let me have final words.

Me: *Thinking* Might as well… Kari would just jump in for no reason anyway…

Kari: So anyways… YAY! I ACTUALLY LIVED!

Sasuke: Hn, loser…

Kari: Hey what are you doing here. T.T

Sasuke: The writer let me have a final say also and to warn you if you got too out of hand, she would end this.

Kari: What?! That's not fair! I don't want to share with emo boy!

Sasuke: I am not emo!

Kari: That's what you think, chicken butt head.

Sasuke: Hn.. I should have let you die when I had the chance…

Kari: WHAT DID YOU SAY!? WHY DON'T YOU JUMP IN A DITCH AND ROT ALREADY!

Me: Um… that's enough guys.

Sasuke: Not until you shut your trap… loudmouth.

Me: SHUT UP!

*Both silence themselves*

Me: Jeez… see what insanity takes place in my mind? Anyways, thanks for reading, people! And I would like to thank shinobi89 and Hikari-letel-blood for reviewing! Thanks a bunch! :D

Quick Note: 'Aki' is not a bad name (At least from my knowledge). As time goes on (If I actually make it that far!), it will be explained why she acted so perversely to the name.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Entering- Challenge! The Bet**

_Bounce. Bounce. Bounce._

"Come on, people..." Kari murmured quietly under her breath, her steely blue eyes fixated on a round orange ball. Her head leaned on her hand for support; her teeth nibbled on two of her fingers nervously.

_Squeak. Pause. Pass._

"Yes! That's it, guys! Team work!" Kari cheered, attentively watching the new recipient of the orange sphere bounce it up and down passed the opposing members.

Suddenly, one member from the enemy team jumped out of nowhere, intercepting the ball when it was passed to a new person.

She then yelled, "Ah, come on here! Who's supposed to be watching him? Defense, folks! **Defense**!"

Several weeks passed by, and the young Kikuchi had grown accustomed to her new a school quickly, immediately figuring which class she liked and which one she hated.

Gym was one of those in-betweens. She never truly detested yet, there was something about it that prevented her from adoring it.

The enemy team member dribbled the basketball to the other side, completely missing the hoop.

"Ha! Take that sucker!!"

The ball bounced off on the rim, rolling by one member on the team and into opposing arms.

"Oh my god... Are you blind? It was right there for goodness sakes!" the silver-haired female shouted, jumping up to her feet.

"Kari, calm down already. This is just a _gym game_. It doesn't matter," placated a voice resonating from above.

Kari sat back down to her seat and looked up. She smiled sheepishly and said, "What can I say Ino-chan? I get very excited during sports events. "

"But why get so pumped up? There's nothing exciting about them," the blonde asked, her nose wrinkling slightly.

She cheerfully admitted, "Well I can't help getting all hyped up like this. I like watching sports."

Ino gagged at the very thought. "**Bleck**! You _like_ sports? I hate them! You get all sweaty and gross..."

"And you totally suck..." Her deep blue orbs snapped towards the source of the voice, emanating from a pink-haired female, who was drenched with sweat.

"Shut up, billboard brow. You're not all that great either."

With a roll of her emerald orbs, Sakura quickly ran back into place.

"Um... Why don't you join us up here, Kari? The view is much better," Hinata offered timidly.

The silver-haired looked up, considering her suggestion. As she gazed upwards at the towering bleachers, she nearly felt dizzy. She never realized Hinata and Ino were so high up. Her stomach lurched, twisting into a tight, thick knot. Kari quickly shook her head of her unease and said, "Nah. I'm fine here. I like being up close to the action anyway."

"Suit yourself. If you get smacked in the head with the ball, don't come crying to me," the blonde girl said airily.

"Come on! He was totally traveling!" Ten Ten shouted from Kari's side. "Yo ref, do you have eyes?!"

"...You two are so weird. I forgot Kari-chan wasn't the only overly enthusiastic one here," Ino realized with a tired shake of her blonde locks.

Kari simply smirked, turning her attention towards the game at hand. She was glad at least one person understood her enthusiasm!

"So what's happening?" Kari queried the brunette.

"We're down by one, the ball is in enemy possession, there are only a few minutes until the end of the round," Ten Ten blurted out in one, cohesive sentence, her eyes firmly fixated on the ball.

"God... Someone better score already or else we won't have much of a chance... This may be the last round," Kari mumbled, watching the game closely.

As if to answer her prayers, a blur of ebony dashed in and stole the basketball out of the person's hands. He quickly dribbled it up the opposite end of the court and threw the ball into the hoop.

_Swish._

"Boo! Bbbbooooo!!!" Kari yelled in the midst of frenzied plaudits and squeals. "You suck!!"

Her bun-haired companion then gently reminded her, "Hikari, Sasuke is on _our_ team, remember? Shouldn't you be happy we're tied now?"

With an irritated scowl on her face, her eyes sneering at the dark-haired Uchiha, she replied, "I'm happy about the point. I'm just mad at the one that _scored_ the point."

His cold obsidian orbs swept the gym for moment, glancing over to the bleachers. His own eyes narrowed into a glare, clearly directed to her and her fierce leer.

After Sasuke was officially stripped of his job as her escort, their total interaction waned to complete silence and animosity. She couldn't stand him and vice versa. She didn't have the tolerance to even ask him one important question.

'_But it probably was nothing. My hearing must be considerably flawed if I thought he actually addressed me as __'Aki'__. No one had called me that name in years..._' she mused as the young boy tore his passive gaze away.

The whistle sounded, signaling the end of the round. "Okay, good job, guys. I think we have time for one more quick play," exclaimed Anko.

"So, teams, get yourself ready then we will begin," Gai added with a blinding smile on his face. "I want to see if anyone of you guys can break this tie."

'_Oh joy... Another round for Sasuke to show off and be a total ball hog. Yay._' Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Kikuchi, up. Now," ordered the said ball hog, towering over her seated self.

"But I'm just so comfortable down here, Uchiha. Why ever would I do that?" she inquired, not at all concealing her contempt for the ebony male.

"That's simple. You have to get up and actually play," Sasuke replied coldly, his expression void of all emotion.

Her silvery blue orbs widened. "What did I say in the beginning of gym? Unless you're such a coldhearted sadist and want people from _both_ _teams_ to suffer from fatal injuries, don't let me play!"

Sasuke just scoffed. "You're just being a lazy bum. We need you down there because Sakura is dead tired. In her condition, she won't be of any use in the final minutes of the game."

"Then get someone else out there. How about, Ten Ten? She can at least score you a few points and not kill anyone in the process!"

"That's a big no, Kikuchi. Ten Ten already played. She's dead tired. We need someone who hasn't played yet," Sasuke informed the reluctant Kari. The silver-haired female cursed under her breath, inwardly smacking herself.

Was she so truly blind? How could she have not noticed Ten Ten's glistening, sweaty features, her irregular breath, and the very fact she wasn't there for the entirety of the game.

'_I truly am oblivious…Why must the heavens induce such torment to me of all people? Do they derive some sense of pleasure from my suffering?_'

"Come on already. Do you plan on getting off your fat ass or will I have to coerce you?"

After pondering the haughty Uchiha's threat for a good few seconds, a condescending grin graced her lips as she said confidently, "I'd love to see you try."

Sasuke's dark brow twitched violently as he stared at the cocky Kikuchi, her general demeanor remaining confident, defiant, and challenging to his patience. Such an irritating female…

Just as he was going to lunge for Kari's pale neck and haul her down from there, his blonde teammate chirped up, "Ooh! Is Kari-chan going to join us?"

The young man turned around to see Naruto standing right behind him, his baby blues glistening hopefully at the very prospect.

Perfect. This was exactly what Sasuke needed.

A devious smile spread over his face as he replied calmly, "Yeah, dobe. She is."

The silvery girl felt her stomach lurch. A nervous droplet of sweat skated down the nape of her neck as Naruto nearly leapt for joy. '_Ah… crap._'

"Listen, Naruto, he's lying. I'm not…"

"YAY! Let's go!" Just before she could even begin to explain how he was mistaken and that he was just a mindless tool in Sasuke's conniving plan, Naruto grabbed her wrist and yanked her down towards the basketball court.

"We'll totally break that tie now!"

'_Yeah… and a few bones while we're at it._'

Her steel-blue orbs narrowed into a fierce glower, leering at Sasuke. His overall demeanor exuded triumph, and his cold irises flickered with amusement.

'_And I certainly hope the breaking begins with __him__._'

"Oh great! Hikari's here! We're all doomed," lamented a certain distraught redhead. Kari simply responded to Karin's remark was a withering glare.

'… _Okay, maybe Karin's jaw should break first then Sasuke in general!_'

To quash any chances of a second fray occurring, Anko and Gai thought the best solution was always make sure Hikari and Karin were on the same team.

…Let's just say that the two girls were not entirely ecstatic over the arrangement. Though there were no longer any brawls occurring in the gym, Karin felt no regrets 'accidentally' shoving or hitting Kari with spherical objects. Kari, of course, also felt inclined to retaliate when necessary.

'_Guess this is what it means to keep your friends close, but keep enemies even closer._'

"Alright, Kikuchi. You don't have to do much," Sasuke began telling her. "All you have to do is stand there and stay out of the way. It's a tie game and not much time left anyway."

"Which in Uchiha speak means, '_Don't get in __**your**__ wa_y', right?" she said and quickly added, "Well, as long as you don't pass me the ball, I think I'll accept that."

"Whatever…" he mumbled and quickly ran into position.

Soon the game quickly commenced. Cheers exploded from bleachers, encouraging Kari to go and score the winning point.

'_Hell no! I've learned my lesson from just thinking about scoring a point. The last time I did, I almost got killed by a hockey stick!_'

Time quickly passed by, and Kari was sure that there were only a few minutes in the game. She expected someone like Sasuke to miraculously dribble the ball from down the other side of the court and score the winning point.

'_Whoop-dee-doo… I just want someone to just get the ball already and score…_'

"KARI!" Instinctively, the said female slowly looked up at the sound of her name. She never expected to see an orange ball fly into her hands.

'_What the hell? I thought I said to not give me the ball! Do people even listen to me anymore?!_'

She looked around frantically, searching for one of her team members to swoop in and rescue her. She'd even pass the ball to the pompous prick, Sasuke, of all people.

As luck would have it, every one of her team members were guarded by the enemy team, and she had a perfect shot at the hoop. Kari simply stood motionless- alone and unguarded.

'_Why does this all seem so familiar?_'

In the midst of moving bodies, Naruto managed to convey a quick wink, mouthing that she has to go and make the shot.

'_Naruto is such a moron! I should have known he would be the one to pass anything to me of all people_,' Kari thought bitterly to herself. She examined her surroundings, surveying her distance from the hoop and the location of all of her other team members. '_…eh, what the heck? Let's see what happens this time…_'

With great inelegance unique to her alone, Kari dribbled the ball quickly down towards the enemy's hoop.

'_Whoa... I might be actually be able to score!_' she thought brightly to herself, continuing to bounce the ball down the court. '_Nothing can stop me now!_'

Just before Kari could shoot the ball and even maybe score, a body soon stumbled in front of her.

She inwardly groaned. '_I should have known something like this would happen…_'

The sudden materialization of this human obstacle caused her to trip and fling the ball straight up into the air. She toppled down to the ground with this mysterious person lying right on top of her.

Her silvery blue eyes watched anxiously as the orange sphere rose high into the ceiling… and inevitably crashing down on her head.

'_Ow…_'

Then whistle sounded. "That's game!"

"Smooth, Kikuchi," the figure on top of her grumbled, his warm breath fanning over her face and sending involuntary shivers down her spine.

Her blood boiled. She could only think of one person that would address her by her surname.

"See, Uchiha? That's what you get for making me play **and** handing me the ball! Both of us getting hurt!" she exclaimed, her spheres sneering into a pair of molten ebony.

"Well, it's not my fault I have such an uncoordinated team member," he retorted heatedly.

"You were the one that got in my way! I had the ball. I was dribbling it towards the hoop. I was actually going to _shoot_ it into the hoop!"

"Well it's your fault for not paying any attention."

"…I refuse to start _that_ conversation again," she growled, her mind evoking her very first encounter with the Uchiha boy. With both their eyes locked into a heated glaring match, she said through her clenched teeth, "Just get off of me already."

"Hn." In one quick, cohesive motion, Sasuke rose to his feet, brushed himself off, and politely extended his hand towards the irate female.

The young girl looked down at the gesture, staring at it as if it was some an aberration of sorts. How unlike Sasuke to do something remotely civil! Was he truly doing it from the goodness of his heart… or was he treating her like some sort of charity case?

Cleaving to her resentment towards her former escort, Kari swiped the hand aside, lifting herself off the ground by her own accord.

"Such a stubborn loser…" Sasuke exhaled under his breath.

With a loud harrumph, Kari stomped away towards the locker room, muttering a long string of curses towards the dark-haired male.

That was the reason why she never truly loved gym. She simply detested it when she had to go out there and participate in some shape or form. It always ended in some sort of catastrophe and her in some sort of pain. If she could only sit there and watch, she would actually enjoy gym class.

As she shuffled to the locker room – both cursing Sasuke and the people that was stupid enough to create sports like basketball – a red-haired someone flew to her side.

"Ooh, I hope you didn't get hurt that badly!" Karin said, feigning concern over her wellbeing.

"Shut up. Like you can do any better," Kari snapped, feeling little energy to fully tackle Karin's verbal assault. She quickened her pace accordingly, hoping to lose the Karin and brood in peace.

"Ooh, I see someone lost a few brain cells after her little spill. If you forgot, I am so much more athletic then you!" she taunted, mimicking her brisk speed with ease.

Kari snorted, failing to suppress her hilarity over her remark. "Yeah right… Apparently I'm not the only one that lost a few marbles!"

Her flaming scarlet eyes became ablaze with rage, sneering at the young Kikuchi. She barked, "If you're so confidant, why not we see who is the most athletic?"

Kari stopped in her place, raising a pale brow at her suggestion. "Well what do you propose we do?"

"A sports competition! You and I make up a team and see who would be victorious," Karin challenged.

"I'm not so sure about that…" Kari admitted softly, contemplating the ramifications if she actually did accept. Just how many people would she injure… Would it be worth it?

"Oh, I understand if you refuse," Karin said airily.

"You… do?" Kari repeated dubiously, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah! You just are **scared** to find out that I am more athletic than you."

Hikari's mouth slacked, threatening to plunge deep down into the floorings. "Me? Scared? HA! I think you're the frightened one because you know you'd lose."

"Confidant, are we?" Karin murmured dryly before saying with increased articulacy, "Well, why don't we sweeten the deal?"

"What do you mean? Are you proposing… a bet?" Kari asked.

The capricious redhead nodded her head. "So do we have a deal, Hikari?"

The young Kikuchi watched as Karin's hand stretched forward. She hesitated for a moment, calculating whether she should accept or not. After all, she did find handshakes to be one the simplest, yet most binding gestures. After that one simple shake, there would be no turning back.

Is she truly willing to make a deal with such an unscrupulous female? She did try to murder her… twice to be exact. Should she agree with such a volatile individual?

"Come on, Hikari. Where's your confidence now?"

After few more moments of contemplation, Kari filled her lungs with air and slowly exhaled it out. Kari grasped her hand.

"You got a deal."

//=x=\\

"SAI!!!" Kari cried as she ran inside the art room. Her mind was spinning, corresponding with her wild, frenzied movements, as she raced towards the artist, his overall countenance unfazed by her cry.

"What sort of problems do you have that need to be bellowed to the world?" Sai calmly inquired, now implementing charcoal for his art. "Or is that simply that unstable mentality of yours speaking?"

"Jeez, thank you for the words of comfort," Kari said sarcastically, seating herself right next to him. "I wonder how I can even begin to tolerate your snide comments sometimes."

"Changing the subject," he reminded her.

"Yeah. Just get to the point already, neh?"

Sai nodded his head. "Of course. I truly am curious how asinine this problem is. It could be a good laugh."

Discrediting that scathing remark from her mind, she said, "Well I made a bet with Karin!" Unfazed by the very mention of the redhead's name, Sai kept his attention on his artwork. Kari pouted then added casually, "Did I forget to mention that this bet is related with a sports?"

The dark-haired male paused, processing the breadth of her words carefully in his intelligent mind. He then released a small burst of laughter. "You must be joking. It's not one where you actually have to participate in some shape or form, is it?"

"If I was kidding around, would we still be having this conversation?" she inquired with no teasing inflection in her voice.

Sai shrugged his shoulders, setting his art supplies down neatly. Running his fingers through his hair, Sai asked, "But what do you want me to do, Hi-chan? I certainly can't help you get out of that stupid agreement if that's what you want."

"Um… no. That's not it."

"Oh? Then what do you want from me? Assemble some fantastic team for you that will guarantee victory?"

Kari opened her mouth to retort, but quickly closed it, processing his words carefully in her mind. As a bright, hopeful smile spread over her lips, she tentatively said, "Well… that would work very well in my favor if you did…"

"Why should I? You're the simpleton to agree to something like that. You should be able to assemble an adequate group," Sai queried, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because if I ask, half of the people would probably laugh right at my face while the other half would simply run away because they're afraid of getting an injury," she replied bluntly.

"Ah, yes! So true!"

"Plus, Karin would probably get all the good people and set up this kick-ass team that would put me to shame."

Sai contemplated her words carefully, nodding his head in consideration. "Alright, so are their any other details I need to be aware of, such as what exactly is this sport?"

"Basketball," Kari replied, watching as Sai released another quick burst of laughter at the very thought.

"Ah… no wonder you're asking me. Like almost every other sport, you suck at basketball!" Sai stated. "Whenever we tried playing, you would somehow throw the ball right into your face!"

"Don't remind me…"

"Anything else?"

"We have three days until Anko and Gai combine classes again. The first day is to assemble an actual team, and the second day is the practice. I just hope we can get something together when we actually have to play on the third day."

"How about the bet?"

She simply shook her head. "We won't be discussing the exact details of the bet until tomorrow after school."

Again, his midnight black tendrils bobbed, his eyes ruminating her words carefully.

"Okay, Hi-chan. I'll see what I can do. You're going to owe me big for this…"

"Wah?" Kari inquired, cocking her head to a slight incline. "Do you seriously mean you'll help me?"

"… If I say I will, will you actually work on your art? Kurenai-sensei would like to see what we got done in this one period," Sai said, and soon was assaulted with thunderous squeal.

Kari wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a joyful embrace. "Oh thank you, Sai! Thank you! I already owe you a lot so one more thing won't make much of a difference!"

He whirled his dark orbs into a full circle, quickly patted her back, and liberated his body from her arms. "Yes, I know. Just come to the gym after you're done speaking with Karin to see what I wrangled up for you."

Kari happily bobbed her silver head, turning her attention towards her unblemished piece of paper.

All conversation lulled to complete quiet tranquility as the two individuals worked vigorously on their artworks.

Suddenly, Hikari broke the silence. "Sai? Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," Sai said, his gaze focused on his piece.

The silvery girl chewed on her bottom lip, considering how exactly she should approach her question. After a quick breath of air, she asked, "When was the last time you – or anyone I know for that matter – called me… 'Aki'?"

Sai paused for a single moment, contemplating her question. "That's a good question. I'm not exactly sure. You begged us to stop calling you that little nickname when we were still very young. You complained it was childish and wanted a nickname that made you sound more grownup or something silly like that. You then settled for Hi-chan since we already doted you by Kari."

"Oh… right."

"In fact, I think that was after you moved, Kari. You know, the one you lived in before you had to live with Kakashi-san," Sai added as an afterthought.

"Yeah… that's right," Kari mumbled softly, controlling her breath to a smooth even pace.

Sai glanced over to her, regretting his careless word choice. Kari assured him she was fine with a light smile. He simply nodded his head, occasionally glancing over to his distraught companion.

The subject was quickly dropped as both concentrated on their artworks. The Kikuchi girl simply pushed all those thoughts to the back of her mind where they belonged, deliberating her worries were much more important.

Just what exactly did she get herself into?

//=x=\\

"Ah, sorry, Sai!" panted a tired silver female was she rushed into the gymnasium. "After I talked to Karin about the bet, I kind of got lost. This school is freakin' huge!"

"It's quite alright," Sai assured her. "I was just telling these guys that you had something very important to tell them."

"Oh my god! You actually did it?" she cried happily, steel-blue orbs glittering brightly at the very thought. With a quick nod of his head, Kari quickly blurted out, "So where are they?"

"Right here." With a wave of his arm, Sai gestured to the group of people that sat in the bleachers beside him.

All euphoria evaporated as shock rose and took full command of her features. She could not believe who Sai gathered. Her eyes scanned the small clump of students, racing passed pink, two blondes, before settling of impassive black.

Kari swallowed. '_Oh boy… this is just wonderful…_'

* * *

Quick Note from Me: Eh… I'm so tired! I've been very busy the passed few days, and I haven't had much time to write. So for the next few weeks my writing time would be significantly slowed due to some things that came up. Updates will come though! Just be patient!

Anyways thanks for reading! Not sure how well this chapter turned out, but at least it's something!

I'd like to thank **Hikari-Letel-Blood** (You've been a great supporter. You rock! *huggles*) and **Songstress of Hope** for reviewing *huggles you too because I feel like it*, **AnImEwIlLRuLe **for giving feedback, and to everyone who alerted/favorited this story! Love ya lots! Your support what helps me keep going when I feel extremely lazy! :P


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Entering – Practice Makes… Unexpected Disaster**

The air was completely stagnant. Not even a breath of air escaped from the silvery female's lips, her deep silvery blue orbs wide with shock. She dared not move a single muscle; only her eyes managed some movement, continuously scanning the faces that sat before her.

'_Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Lee, Naruto, Ten Ten… Sasuke!?_' Kari nearly felt her knees buckle at the very sight of him. The others she could easily tolerate… Sasuke was an entirely different story.

'_Of all the people Sai could have assembled, he had to get Sasuke. Idiot…_'

"So, Kari-chan, how do you like your team?" Sai cheerfully inquired the shocked Kikuchi.

Drawing in a copious amount of air, Kari finally responded, "Words cannot fully convey my feelings towards this arrangement, Sai. I am just speechless."

Sai sniggered slightly under his breath, laughing at Kari's blank expression as well as the others, who gazed back with equal vacuity in their countenances. Silence manifested itself, thickening the tense air with its suffocating veil.

Sakura quickly blurted out an inquiry in order to break the silence. "Um… Kari-chan, you actually _know_ Sai?"

Snapping herself out of her daze, Kari nodded her head. "Unfortunately, yes. I've known him ever since I was young"

"That sucks! I can barely stand him! I have no idea how you could actually be friends with him," Naruto exclaimed, his nose wrinkling with blatant disgust. "He says whatever pops into his mind and just insults other people most of the time."

"Well at least I'm not a moron like you! You don't even have the balls to protect yourself," Sai retorted with a bright smile on his face, inciting an angry nerve to explode from Naruto's temple.

The incensed blonde rocketed up from his seat, shouting, "I can totally beat Sakura whenever I want! She's not that tough! She just catches me off guard most of the time!"

Sai's grin widened. "I never did say _Sakura_, did I?"

Naruto blinked several times, confusion replacing the thrashing rage in his ultramarine orbs. "You... Didn't?"

The young artist shook his head. Naruto swallowed a large lump in his throat, tentatively turning his head towards the said floral female.

"I'm not that tough, huh?" Sakura's emerald orbs glittered maliciously, infuriated nerves riddling her large forehead.

"N... No! I.. I didn't mean it that way!" Naruto stammered nervously, droplets of perspiration rolling hastily down his temples.

"Let's just see how tough I am, you baka!" Sakura punched the blonde squarely in the jaw, sending him flying across the gymnasium.

'_Jeez! Sakura is scary when she's angry... I certainly don't want to be in his place right now,_' Kari thought, scooting away from the livid Haruno. After that herculean jab, Sakura brushed her uniform of any dusty debris and primly seated herself back down to the bleachers with a curt harrumph. Naruto slowly crawled back towards them, rubbing his bruised cheek with his hand.

"Well, um, Kari-chan, you must be happy you know Sai," Hinata mumbled shyly, wishing to change the subject. "At least you weren't totally alone when you started school!"

Kari felt her lips curve to a happy smile. "I never thought of it like that, but that's pretty true… even though he seems unaware of the meaning of '_tactfulness'_."

"Yes, I do. I believe you're mistaking your mental impediments to be mine. You don't know the meanings of many words," Sai retorted.

Kari's steely blue orbs whirled in a full circle, gently jabbing the artist's shoulder. "Just shut up. I know the meaning of words"

Just before Sai could refute such a statement – possibly making her head explode with strange, foreign words she never heard of – Sasuke barked, "You're wasting our time, Kikuchi!"

Kari quickly snapped her head towards the Uchiha. His typically indifferent countenance was splintered with palpable irritation.

Even with a quick, calming breath, Sasuke could not help, but say with a slight growl, "Why did Sai bring us all here?"

"Just chill out, Uchiha. There's no need to snap at me. I was getting to that," Kari said. She inclined her head to the side, feeling inquisition – not anger surprisingly – when her silvery blue eyes gaped into his cold, black orbs. His eyes seemed to puncture deep into her soul, shooting daggers right into her heart.

'_Jeez! Did Sasuke forget to take his happy pills or something? There's no reason for him to yell at me…_' Kari thought. '_What is he? Bipolar or jeal…_'

She quickly waved that thought away. '_That's silly of me! There is no reason for that presumptuous schmuck to be jealous. Why would something like that pop into my mind? He just totally forgot his medication today. That's why he's moodier than usual._'

She quickly bit her tongue, stopping herself from converting her thoughts to spoken words. Sasuke seemed aggravated as is. If she actually said that, who knows how he would react? She valued her life and felt much too tired to defend herself from verbal – and possibly physical – assault.

"I just want to start out by saying thanks for all of you for being here and for Sai for actually _making_ you come here," Kari began, glancing over every face. "Now I promise I will try to make my plea brief and concise since I know all of you are curious why you are here."

"Yeah! That and I'm _starving_. I'm thinking I'll just buy myself some ramen!" Naruto shouted, waving a single piece of paper into the air. "I even have coupons for Ichiraku!"

"Ooh!! I love Ichiraku! Their ramen is simply amazing," Kari exclaimed, her train of thought skidding dangerously off track. "Do you have an extra one?"

"Kari, you're getting distracted. Your stomach is secondary here," Sai gently reminded.

"Oh… right! Sorry! I'm hungry too," she admitted. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask the seven of you if you would spare a moment of your time to assist me in a noteworthy cause – a cause that would benefit many people, myself included. Not only would I be saved from utter degradation, but you would be helping our student body, fighting to defeat this very person that has caused everyone, including all of you, all sorts of pain."

"What do you mean by that?" Ino asked curiously. "Who are you talking about?"

"Stop boring us with you unintelligent blathering and get to the point," Sasuke said, his suddenly voice sounding as cool and calm as his overall placid demeanor.

The silver-haired female curtly nodded her head. "The point, you impatient teme, is that I request all of you to assist me in a competition of physical proportions and help me defeat that red-haired menace, Karin!"

Kari stood excitedly in her place, adrenaline pumping in her veins after her speech. Even though she improvised her whole entire speech, she thought she did fairly well. Everyone must be just as pumped up as she was… weren't they?

The only response she received was silence and blank stares. Her heart sank deep in her chest, saddened by the fact her narrative did not arouse the reaction she desired. She turned her disheartened gaze to the raven-haired artist, who simply sighed in response.

"In normal terms, Kari wants to know if you all will help her win a sports match against Karin," Sai stated simply.

A chorus of 'oh's' answered his simpler translation, absorbing the request in their minds. Finally, Kari received another reaction, but, yet again, an undesired one –laughter.

"Kari-chan, Sai's joking right?" Naruto choked out in the midst of his hysteria. "You of all people wouldn't want to play a sport! I mean, no offense, you're not the most athletic person I've ever met."

Sai nodded his head in agreement. "My thoughts exactly. It's nice to see _someone_ agrees with me."

After a implementing her most withering glare at Sai, the young Kikuchi felt her spirits completely deflate. Her once confident soul took a nosedive into the desolate abyss. She once had high hopes that if Sai to round people up, she would be able to avoid such a release.

She certainly was disappointed to see many people laugh at her anyway.

"Come on, guys. Please stop laughing. I'm serious," she said in a whiny voice, her full lips contorted to an abysmal frown.

Sasuke – the only one not consumed by laughter – asked, "Kikuchi, that certainly is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Are you seriously asking that of us?"

Their gazes locked, and she cringed in fear. Such a threatening glimmer radiating from his eyes! It rattled her very bones, shivering down her spine.

"On second thought, I think I wouldn't mind if you cracked a smile once and awhile, Uchiha. You're so scary! I can't begin to fathom why the female population worships you," Kari said, increasing the space between her and the menacing dark-haired boy. His glare deepened, striking terror into her very soul. His obsidian irises seemed so cold, so empty, lacking any sympathy or kindness.

'_Yep, I would pay big bucks to see him show an emotion other than rage_,' she deliberated, struggling to recompose her fallen poise.

"Since Sasuke seemed to have rendered Kari into such an unintelligible state I will speak on her behalf. Guys, she's dead serious. Even though we all agree that Kari lacks any athletic ability whatsoever, the only reason why she's doing this because she made a bet with Karin. She had exactly two days to find a group of people willing to join her and train," Sai explained, his stern voice quelling any trickles of laughter surrounding him. Their eyes soon traveled over to the silent female, who meekly bobbed her silver head, gripping the hem of her skirt nervously at the sudden attention.

With a loud scoff, Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and inquired, "But why should we waste our time to help you out? You're the idiot who got yourself into that mess. Go help yourself. Don't make Sai do all the work."

As Kari parted her lips to explain, Sai interrupted. "For one thing, after a little research, it is proven that you all are the more athletic people in her gym class and are fairly acquainted with her. That should make building teamwork easier and increase her chances of winning. Also… I must be honest. If Hikari asked, people would laugh right in her face and walk away."

Kari snorted at the accusation, clearly affronted by his words. Her lips pursed, and her arms were crossed right over her chest, holding a semblance similar to that of a spoiled toddler.

"So, since I'm pressed for time, are you all willing to try, or will you walk out? We would like a response now."

Aqueous gray orbs widened, imploring them with each iridescent glitter of her bright eyes. "Please, guys? Don't you all want to feel the satisfaction of Karin losing? I know I do! You guys don't want me to humiliate myself, do you?"

No one uttered a word. The pleading female waited patiently in her place, feeling only a light breeze play at the ends of her locks.

Her hopes slowly waned as the silence dominated the air. "Alright, I get it," she said forlornly. "I understand if you don't…"

"I'll give it a shot." Kari immediately perked up, locking onto a pair of glistening brown eyes. "It would be fun giving Karin a taste of her own medicine!"

"T… Ten Ten?"

"If Ten Ten is going to try, then I shall try too! It would be the correct thing to do if we bring Karin to justice!" The green clad boy exclaimed.

"…You too, Lee?"

"I can't let bushy brow show me up!! I want in too!" Naruto shouted, jumping straight to his feet.

"I'll do it too. I can't let that idiot, Naruto, drag you down since he believes he is better then everyone here…" Sakura scornfully said, leering at the whiskered Uzumaki.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! I didn't mean it! SAI TRICKED ME!" The floral pinkette released an unladylike snort, clearly unconvinced.

With a loud scoff, Ino obstinately crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her nose snootily up in the air. "Even though crushing Karin is deliciously tempting, I refuse to participate in any sports! I hate watching them, and I hate actually _doing_ them. I'm just going to sit here on these bleachers and cheer you on, pretending I care about the stupid sport."

Sakura released a relieved sigh. "Phew! I think that would be for the best. We won't have a chance of winning since you suck, Ino-pig!"

"Watch your mouth, Billboard Brow! You'd probably blind everyone when the gym lights hit your large forehead!" Ino retorted vehemently. Sky-blue orbs locked onto her forest green irises, engaging in a fierce glaring match.

"Um, that's okay, Ino-chan," Kari assured her, feeling a watery droplet of perspiration slither down the nape of her neck. "You don't have to play. I totally need the support anyway.

Hinata tentatively said, "Um, I'll probably sit out as well. I'll keep Ino company while you guys play."

Kari nodded her head. "Now, I believe only one person never gave a response…"

The tiny girl pranced towards the silent male, his eyes observing her warily as she drew closer. With an arm firmly placed on her hip, Kari inquired, "So what's it going to be, Uchiha? Are you willing to spare a moment of your time for a '_lowly female of my insignificant stature_'?"

The young boy scrutinized her meticulously, examining her stance. Standing before him was no longer the gloomy female that cringed at the very sight of him. Standing before him was the Kari he came to know and despise – confident, loud, completely and utterly annoying.

She stood before him, completely in control, nearly _challenging_ him to accept.

Should he, a proud member of the great Uchiha clan, just cave? Accept her challenge and submit to the provocation glimmering in her blue eyes?

It certainly would just be wiser to just refuse. Sasuke thought he should just spurn the crazy female. Kari was not worth his time or breath.

…then again, he did have his pride on the line. If he did refuse, she may consider that a sign of weakness, risking the possibility of endless taunting over his refusal.

Just what should an Uchiha genius do?

With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Sasuke simply grunted his response. "Hn."

"What is that supposed to mean? To think, you complained about me speaking so unintelligibly…"

"Shut up. Even though you truly are an irascible shrimp with a big mouth, I think accepting that wouldn't be a total waste."

"Gee, I'm not sure whether to thank you for accepting, or slap your arrogant head for calling me that!" Kari scowled.

"I prefer neither. Is there any other details we should be aware of?" Sasuke inquired.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Naruto chirped up. "Ooh! Like how about the bet? What's going to happen if either of you guys lose?"

Kari instinctively shuddered at the very thought. "Trust me… You'll find out just how bad it is once we have a victor. It's going to be a humiliating spectacle, I'll assure you…"

"The sport is basketball," Sai added complacently.

A unison of sniggers and snorts responded to Sai's statement, actuating a purse of silver-haired female's lips.

"Hey, hey! Yeah, I know I'm bad at basketball… and yeah, I'm bad in sports in general, but I surely don't deserve that sort of response! Give me some credit, people," Kari said defensively.

"Aw, don't worry, Hi-chan! We will certainly give you some credit if your improve after a ruthless practice session!" Sai consoled her, a brilliant smile gracing his thin mouth.

Her already pale complexion blanched; her rosy cheeks suddenly were depleted of all color. "W… WHAT?!"

//=x=\\

_Pant. Pant…_

Labored breathes echoed in the gymnasium, harmonizing with the quick bounces of a spherical object.

"Okay, now just toss it up!" Sai advised, standing safely on the side. The tired figure complied, languidly flinging the ball upwards. The orange orb flew towards the hoop… before inevitably crashing back down to the wooden floorboards, failing to even touch the net.

"Kikuchi, can't you get at least one basket?" Sasuke asked, wiping away a droplet of sweat from his forehead. "We've been at it for almost more than an hour and even practiced _yesterday_ and you still can't do anything let alone score a point."

"Shut up, Uchiha! I'm doing my best," she retorted in between heavy breaths. "Right, Sai?"

"Actually, your performance is quite terrible, Hi-chan!" Sai said candidly.

"Thank you. That makes me feel so much better…"

"But there is good news!" Sai said. The desolate Kikuchi instantly perked up, excited to listen to news. "We only need five people on the court at a time."

"But… how is that good news?" she inquired.

"We have six members on this team, which includes you. Do you understand yet?"

Perplexity flowed over her features, causing her head to incline to the side to accentuate her confusion. With an impatient shrug, Sai elucidated for her, "You don't need to play, Hikari. You can sit out. You don't have to be out there all the time, do you?"

"No… don't think so… Oh my god! That's genius!" Kari cried, elation sparkling in her vibrant spheres. "We never did agree to anything like that… Oh, this could work out perfectly! Especially since we have one heck of a player on our team…"

As if on cue, Ten Ten dribbled the ball down court, expertly tossing the ball right into the hoop.

"Yeah! Another basket!" The brunette shouted, shooting her hands up in the air.

"With her on my team, we're sure to win," Kari thought optimistically.

Sasuke quietly added under his breath, "And we'll be fine as long as you stay out…"

"What was that, Uchiha?!"

"Ah, nothing."

Ten Ten quickly trotted towards the silvery female and said, "Well, I got to go guys! I have a martial arts match today!"

Kari said fearfully, "But isn't that dangerous? Couldn't you get hurt?"

"Ah, nonsense! Trust me, I participated in many matches, and I never got hurt too badly!" Ten Ten assured. "I'll be fine for tomorrow."

"Alright… good luck! Break a leg, Ten Ten."

The brunette nodded her head in thanks and promptly ran out the gymnasium.

"Okay, Hikari. Try again." Sai tossed the orange ball towards Kari.

"What? I thought I didn't have to do anything tomorrow!" Kari whined.

"Well, we can never be too careful. You will be our alternate after all. Just try shooting again." With an irritated snort, Kari forced her weary muscles forward, resisting the need to dunk the ball down Sai's cruel throat…

//=x=\\

"This is going to be great!" Kari said in a melodic voice, skipping her way into the gymnasium. Her heart felt light and her whole being seemed to floating on thin air.

Why was she so happy?

'_It's because we're going to mop the floor with that red head of hers! We can't lose!_'

Especially if she stayed on the sidelines as they planned. If she just sat there and let them score all the points, oh! Victory is hers! How she would so enjoy preparing Karin's bet when she loses…

'_Nothing can bring me down!!_'

"Hello, my fellow classmates!" She cheerfully greeted, sauntering over to her instructors. "Hi there, Anko-sensei, Gai-sensei!"

"HI THERE, HI-CHAN!" Anko welcomed with great vigor.

"Oh… hello, there Kari-san. I see you're as enthusiastic as ever," Gai greeted her.

"So we'll be playing basketball together as a class, right?"

"Um, yes. We shall."

Kari's grin widened. "Perfect!"

Then, Kari skipped away, feeling a silly grin embed itself in her lips. '_I never thought I'd be so excited! This is going to be a great day!_'

Finally, she reached her team. "Hello there, guys! Who's ready for a victory?"

The group slowly turned around to face her, their countenances hard, somber… slightly apprehensive?

Curiosity flowed into her silvery blue orbs. "Hey… guys, what's the matter? Usually you guys would be excited with me… well at least Naruto would. What happened?"

Her teammates then looked into each other's eyes, seeming to nonverbally discus an important issue.

"…Guys? You're starting freak me out here… and I don't like getting freaked out. That happens way too often in this crazy school."

With another quick look, the group shrugged their shoulders, walking over to Anko and Gai when they beckoned them.

But Kari did not move. Kari's heart sank. Her eyes widened, gaping at the white bandages that encircled a certain brunette's leg. A sheepish smile crossed her lips. "Hi there, Kari-chan."

Kari felt her whole body collapse on the ground, her gaze traveled to the injured girl's face.

"T…Ten Ten?!"

* * *

What a frightening turn of events! Ten Ten, one of the best players on the team, is… injured? What does this mean for the team's fate?

What will happen to Kari?! You have to wait for the next chapter to find out!!

Kari: And remember: We're still taking ideas for the bet! We'd love to hear creative ideas. The results for the bet will come either the next chapter… or the chapter after that. I don't know yet!

Me: Thanks for reading!! And thanks to all those who reviewed (I.E. **Hikari-Letel-Blood**: my supporter!), those who alerted, and subscribed! I appreciate the support!

**Misc. Notes: **I meant to post this story earlier… but I had a bit of a writer's block. I did get out thought! *Pats self on back* I'm not sure if it's that good… This is also the edited version. Minor changes and stuff. Nothing drastic I suppose... Not sure if it's any better than the original, but it's an edit.

I also am writing a side-story for Konoha High in honor of Sasuke's birthday (July 23, people!!). It's just a fun story so I'm not sure if it's any good… but it's out for anyone who wants to look at it. It's just for fun, so yeah! I'm trying to get it all out for his birthday... but the way I'm going, it's not turning out that way!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Entering – the Backup Player**

"Alright, you maggots! By request, we're going to play basketball again today!" Anko announced to the class. "You all can have a few moments to prepare yourself and your teams, and we'll get started right away."

"Yes, Anko-sensei," the students answered in perfect unison… well the majority at least.

All except one spoke up.

One girl huddled close to the bleachers, her breathing heavy erratic. Her mouth was pressed against a small brown bag, inflating and deflating with her respiration.

"Um, Kari-chan, calm down. It's going to be okay," Ten Ten soothed her timidly. "Please just take a deep breath or something."

Despite the brunette assurances and words of comfort, the silvery female continued her nervous habits, her respiration remaining uneven.

"So how did you break your leg?" Sakura asked as their team banded together.

"It's a long story," Ten Ten said with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"We have a few minutes. We can listen."

"Alright…" With a quick intake of air, Ten Ten began reciting her tale, "As all of you guys know, I had to attend a martial arts tournament yesterday with my team. We were all very excited because we were going up against our school's greatest rivals, Suna High School. We never knew what to expect from them… especially to see three newest members of their team."

"Ah, yes! I heard of those three also!" Lee exclaimed. "Suna High had three new additions to their school, and they quickly became the school's prodigies. Those three siblings are considered geniuses!"

"Yep, and I got to fight one of those sand siblings," Ten Ten proclaimed proudly. "Don't remember the chick's name, but boy, this blondie sure can fight! Throughout our match, we were neck and neck, throwing punch after punch, kick after kick… it was intense! I don't remember having such a fight in a long time!"

"Ten Ten, you're losing us… and more importantly my interest," Ino reminded the fanatical brunette. "Get to the point and tell us how your leg was broken."

"Oh, sorry!" Ten Ten rubbed the back of her head apologetically. "Well during the final minutes of the match, we were both exhausted – tired beyond all belief. At that moment, I decided to try implementing my last move – a move I've been trying to develop for quite awhile now!

"So just as she was going to kick me to the gut, I quickly evaded it, leaping up high into the air, planning to knock this chick out with a kick from above… but I have to remind you all that I was extremely tired and this technique was not perfected. Just as I thought this move was going to make contact, the girl quickly jumped out of the way at the last minute. Before I could catch myself, my leg crashed into the floor. Then they rushed me into the ER, and here I am with a broken limb!"

"But can't you hobble down the court?" Kari finally chirped up through the brown bag. "I mean, even if you have one leg, you have two good arms, right?"

"Ha, actually I kind of sprained my wrist when I fell," Ten Ten sheepishly admitted, raising her right arm to display the dark wrist brace.

Kari's breath was caught in her throat, gaping in shock at the brace. "Ah, come on! But I thought you said you never got hurt to badly."

"Yeah! Usually I get hurt a lot worse. I remember the first match I had last year, I broke my nose, both my arms and my legs, and sprained my neck! Me breaking my leg and spraining my wrist is nothing."

"You have to admit, Kari-chan, you did tell Ten Ten to 'break a leg'," Naruto teased.

"I was kidding! She wasn't supposed to take it literally," she retorted, gripping her bag for dear life.

Soon Naruto pointed out, "And hey... if Ten Ten can't play, doesn't that mean we have to use our back-up player?"

Kari felt her blood run cold. All air failed to exit her lungs.

"That's true. And, um, isn't your alternate...?" Hinata began adding, but all words died on her tongue.

All heads turned, twisting to face the speechless silver-haired female. Her orbs widened; realization flooded into her features.

"No way... no freakin' way!" Kari began hyperventilating at the very realization. "There's no way I'm going to go out there and make a fool out of myself!"

Sakura then said, "But, Kari, you have to. If you don't we would be one short... unless Ino or Hinata are willing to play in your place."

Hope glittered vibrantly in a sea of silvery blue, imploring her blonde and raven-haired friends

"I told you already! I refuse to partake in it. I'd just cheer you guys on and that's it," Ino said. "I won't even be swayed by that puppy dog face, Kari!"

With a loud harrumph, the Kari turned both her attention and pleading puppy dog eyes to the other female.

"Um, I... er, am very sorry, but I promised Ino I'd give her some company while you all play," Hinata replied meekly.

Kari mentally cursed, hugging her knees closer to her chest, paper bag still pressed tightly to her lips.

"….Hey, where'd you even get the bag, Kari?"

She failed to offer a response, rocking herself awkwardly in a fetal position.

"Kikuchi, are you done acting like such a baby already?" Her actions momentarily ceased, turning her gaze to a pair of cold obsidian.

"U...Uchiha?"

"It's your stupidity that got you into this mess. You get yourself out of it," he stated bluntly. "So either you stop acting like the shrimpy little wimp I know you are or continue sniveling and forfeit to Karin. I know the latter certainly doesn't appeal to you, does it?"

Then there was silence. The brown bag escaped from her grasp, fluttering down towards the hardwood floorboards. With her expression glazed with shock, she simply gaped at him. For once, she was at a lost for words.

"This pains me to say this, but for once in all the time I've known you, you're kind of right, Uchiha," Kari admitted reluctantly, her tense muscles relaxing. "But let me tell you, I was not sniveling. I was _hyperventilating_. You should know the difference between the two."

Sasuke's dark orbs whirled in a perfect circle. "I know I'm right, loser. So what are you going to do?"

All eyes turned towards the silver Kikuchi, their eyes filled with inquisition. In turn, her own gaze fell downcast, embarrassed by the sudden attention. She tentatively nibbled on her full lower lip, contemplating her response.

"Ah, Ten Ten, you broke your leg? What a shame..."

Moment before she could open her mouth to speak, Kari's head snapped upwards, staring right into a pair of blazing crimson, her expression reflecting feigned sympathy.

"And to think, she was one of the best players on the team... second to Sasuke-kun of course, but still. You're victory just flew right out the window!"

Rage spiked her veins, darkening her brightly hued orbs. "Oh? What gives you enough evidence to make such a statement? What makes you think you're really going to win?"

Undulating with confidence, she stated with a grin on her face, "For the reason I stated before. Ten Ten was one of your best players on your team. If she's unable to participate, you're team is forced to forfeit. You need one more player after all!"

"Oh... we're not short a person," Kari corrected.

Her crimson orbs flooded with curiosity, and her red brow quirked upwards. "Oh? Then who's going to play in Ten Ten's place? I surely hope you're not planning to send in that blonde anorexic at least."

"Shut your trap, Karin! Stop saying that! I don't have an eating disorder!" The slender Yamanaka rebuked, an angry nerve pulsating from her reddening temple. Her temper slowly fizzled away as she gazed at her silver companion.

Kari stood tranquilly in her place, rising to her feet. Her right thumb pointed backwards – pointing to herself. "I'm still in this game, remember?"

"You're... actually _playing_?" Karin repeated skeptically, blinking unintelligibly at the very thought. Kari nodded her head. Recollecting her fallen wits, Karin stated, "Ha! Like you'd make any difference. Your team is going to lose."

"We'll see about that. Don't you worry though. I have everything set for you, especially your costume!"' With a single, irritated grunt, Karin stormed off.

"Ooh! So what's a costume have to do with the bet?" Naruto inquired.

"You'll find out once I win, Naruto. You'll see once I win..." A startling realization flashed in her mind. Her confident demeanor wavered, slowly disappearing from her countenance. She blanched. "Oh my god. What cosmic force possessed me into saying all that?"

"Um, come on, Kari-chan. We have to set up," Sakura told her gently, guiding the shell-shocked female towards the court.

"Yes... I guess I really will do this… but I certainly won't like it! No one better pass me the ball or else there will be more people sitting with Ten Ten today." Kari pointedly glanced over to Naruto.

"Hey! Hey! Don't look at me like that. I'm sorry that one time. If you ask me though, if that teme never got in your way, you would have totally got it," Naruto said.

"Hn... like that would have happened." Sasuke's countenance remained completely calm, unflappable, even under a certain girl's murderous glare. "Just stay out of my way, Kikuchi."

"I was planning on it, Uchiha."

The team promptly disbanded, settling themselves in their respected place.

"How'd you even convince Anko-sensei and Gai-sensei to allow you two on separate teams?" Sakura inquired. "Last time I checked, they made sure you and Karin were always on the same team because they were afraid of another fight erupting."

"Eh, it's a boring story really. We just negotiated with them that we can handle an occasional 'friendly competition.' We said it was supposed to help promote good sportsmanship and all that jazz. Apparently they bought it," Kari explained. Sakura simply nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Soon, everyone was in place. Naruto, representing their team, stood in the middle, facing off against one of Karin's team members. The blonde threw his head back, looking up to gaze at his tall opponent.

Kari resisted the urge to groan. '_Ah, come on! Of all the people she had to get, she had to get people on the basketball team._'

Even the cocky and overly confident Uzumaki Naruto felt the urge to cringe, staring fearfully at the towering basketball player. He swallowed, crouching down lower to the ground both in hopes it would propel him higher in the air and from fear.

Kari herself felt trickles of fright shiver down her very bones, but she dared not show it. Not when Karin was there, watching her intently with feeling triumphant over her selection.

'_Just because she got lucky with teams means nothing. We can still win this… No need to get scared just yet._'

Gai stepped in between both figures, the orange sphere sitting precariously on the palm of his hand. "Are you two set?"

Both heads bobbed, and Naruto nervously swallowed. His muscles tensed, preparing himself for the jump-off.

"GO!" The ball rose high in the air, and both male figures bounded up to hit the ball.

Sadly, the height advantage made an amazing difference. Before Naruto could even dream of touching the ball, the taller player slapped it aside, right into enemy hands.

Kari fought back a grimace, not trying to dwell on the terrible start. After all, this game had just begun. It was far too early for despair.

As if the assuage her of her fears, Lee bounded across the court, easily stealing the ball right out of the enemy's hands. With a few adept bounces, he quickly passed it over to Sakura, who promptly tossed it to the eager blonde. Naruto rapidly dashed through, making the first basket of the game.

"YEAH! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto shot his arms right into the air, sticking a tongue out at his taller opponent.

"Good job, Naruto!" Kari cheered. Her heart actually felt light in her chest. Her spirits, once again, soared.

'_If we keep this up, we're sure to win!_'

The teams reset themselves back in their original place as the Kari awaited for the next jump ball, cleaving to the hope that her thoughts were true.

//=x=\\

A long period of time rolled by, but to Kari those chunk of minutes seemed like an eternity – an _excruciating_ and _painful_ eternity.

All original confidence dissipated to that of desolation. The score, once led by a measly one point, now was separated by a large gap of numbers – ones Kari was too afraid to know.

'_We're losing… **badly**!_'

After that one slip, the basketball team upped their game, taking absolutely no prisoners. Even Kari was roughed up… and she stood completely still in her place.

As her teammates struggled to ascertain some points, Kari made sure she stood to the side, completely out of any one's way. She felt she would act more a hindrance than an assistance if she participated in any way. If the ball did accidentally make its way towards her, she would simply kick it aside or quickly toss it to one of her teammates.

Karin was not even shy to hide her bliss over the situation, striding gloatingly passed the uneasy Kikuchi.

'_Oh, she will go down. One way or another, she's going down if it's the last thing I do!_'

But just how could they claim victory? The scores certainly proved that idea was becoming less probable with each basket Karin's teammates make.

_Swish._

'_Goodness! You basketball players are not this perfect! **MISS ALREADY**!_'

Another jump ball quickly commenced, this time Sasuke was able to slap the ball out of enemy hands, inciting the annoying squeals of surrounding fan girls.

The only sound that escaped from Kari's lips was a dreadful groan. '_Ah, come on! Why does that ball have to come to me of all people?_'

She would have complained that this was in violation to their agreement to the game, but… she was much to engrossed on the incoming spherical object.

As the ball rolled onto the ground, coming towards her, Kari's mindset was in a complete frenzy. What was she to do? If she actually touched the ball, someone would take the liberty to pass the ball to her more often. The ramifications of that action would be more fatal injuries.

If she just let the ball pass her by… there was a fifty/fifty chance that her teammates would be able to get the ball. Was that worth the risk?

She quickly made a decision, allowing the incoming orange sphere to sweep passed her and innocently sit a few feet beside her.

Her gaze ascended upwards, watching the stampede of players – all from the enemy team.

'_Oh man… this is not going to end well._' Kari nervously swallowed. Just who could save her?

"I GOT IT!" Naruto materialized seemingly out of thin air, scooping the ball right from the ground and bouncing it passed the rush of people.

"Yeah, go Naruto!" she cheered, relieved to be rescued, but all merriment dissipated. Especially when she noticed the four basketball playing behemoths charge right for the blonde.

"Ah, crap," Naruto mumbled under his breath.

The orange ball rolled out towards the side upon impact. Naruto lay inanimately under the masses of brawny bodies, crushed under their greater girth.

"Hey, I'm not a big basketball person, but that surely doesn't look like something you see in basketball," Anko remarked, walking over towards the dog pile.

"This is not football. There's no need to tackle people," Kari grumbled quietly, sympathy washing over her as they finally extricated the crushed Uzumaki. "That should totally be a foul or something."

"Hey, Naruto, are you alright?" Sakura asked, rushing to his side.

"Uh… y...yeah! I'm peachy, Sakura-chan!" Naruto stammered, bright stars circling over his head.

"You don't look fine, Naruto," Lee added. "You really should take a minute to recover."

Naruto dazedly shook his head. "N…no. We have a game. We n…need to do this…"

"But collapsing is not going to help win this! Your wellbeing is more important then the match!"

'_A losing one at that…_'

Pity nearly swamped her as Naruto struggled to remain erect, his feet wobbling with each and every second. She knew he needed a moment to get himself together. She refused to let her friend suffer on her account. "Listen, I'm going to call…"

"Time out."

All heads snapped towards Sasuke, his stern gaze turned towards their two gym instructors.

"Sure, that would be a good idea," Gai agreed. "A few minute breather then we're starting the game right away!"

Guiding the dizzy blue-eyed male towards the bleachers, Sakura gently said, "You should sit down for a moment, Naruto. You look awful."

"Yes, Sakura-chan," Naruto said obediently, a silly smile spreading over his face. "Hee… Sakura's holding my hand!"

"Moron!" Sakura's grip around his hand tightened, extricating a cry of pain from Naruto's throat.

"ACK! Sakura, that hurts!"

Kari sniggered, ready to follow them when a hand captured her wrist.

"We need to talk," Sasuke stated brusquely, dragging the silvery female aside.

"Hey! Let me go, Uchiha!" Kari shouted, thrashing under Sasuke's tight grip.

"Not until we talk about your performance out on court," he said, irritation bubbling under the cold, blank depths of his dark eyes.

Confusion swept over her as she replied defensively, "What's there to talk about? I'm in the game, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you're right. You are _just_ in the game. You're standing there like some sort of idiot," said Sasuke, his irritation seeping into his voice.

"Isn't that enough? We agreed that no one passes me the ball, and I'll stay out of everyone's way."

"That's just the thing! It's _not_ enough!" Sasuke paused for a moment, trying to recollect himself. "Kikuchi, we are here because of your idiocy. We are willing to play this stupid game, but we can't carry you and your dead weight! You actually have to get out there and _do something_."

"But I'm athletically challenged! People will get injured if I play," she snapped.

"Oh, trust me. That's a little too late for that." They both turned their heads the stunned blonde-haired male, hearts glittering in his eyes in being such close proximity to Sakura without any punches and jabs to his person.

"I don't know, Uchiha. Naruto looks just fine to me…"

"Either way, for this game, I don't really care how athletically challenged you think you are. You actually have to exert some energy and try. I thought you wanted to win."

Kari's gaze fell downcast. "Yes, I do…"

"Well you're not acting like it!" Sasuke admonished her harshly. "Sometimes you have to do things that scare you or you're simply not good at. You can't just avoid them. You have to face them head-on, and Kikuchi Hikari, I swear to god, if you don't do anything now and get over whatever issues you clearly have, you won't just be hurting yourself with your asinine bet. You would be hurting everyone that cared enough to help you win and risk an injury."

All words simply failed. Kari gaped at him, a pain surging through her systems. She was not hurt by his words per se, but by the memories the words aroused – memories she tried keeping in the back of her mind.

Quickly resettling those thoughts to where they belonged, determination flared in her silvery blue orbs. A smile spread over her lips. "Uchiha, you're so lucky that we have a game at hand or else I would clobber you for talking to me like that. I'm not five, and I don't need to be chastised like that."

"Hn. Physically you're not; mentally I would say you're more two years old," Sasuke retorted, tugging at the corners of his lips was a… smile? Kari quickly shook her head from the thought, assuring herself she was just seeing things.

"Temporary truce, Uchiha?"

Sasuke coolly nodded and grunted his reply. "Hn."

Kari scowled, resisting the urge to smack his raven head. "Fine, I'll take that as a yes, you inarticulate teme."

"Let's just beat Karin and get on with this." The Kikuchi nodded her head in agreement, following him as they resettled themselves on the court.

She curiously asked, "I have to ask this. You said that the people on this team are here because they care about me, right? They are willing enough to endure fatal injuries for me?"

Sasuke gingerly replied, "Perhaps. What's it to you?"

With a conniving smile spreading over her full lips, she asked, "So does that mean you finally admit you care about me?"

Sasuke sputtered, quickly recollecting his momentary loss of poise. "Kikuchi, you seriously can't _still_ be curious about as stupid as that."

"Just answer the question!"

The raven-haired Uchiha shrugged his shoulders before finally replying, "My case is completely different. They care for you, and thus, wish to help you win the bet. I, on the other hand, only care about winning. I care less if you win or lose the bet. All I simply hate losing above everything else."

"Uh-huh. Sure, Uchiha…"

"And why do you want to know so badly if I care or not?" Kari's pale brow rose upwards as a cocky smile crossed his lips. "Did you convert into those psychotic fan girls and who dream that I actually care about their existences?"

"W…what?!" Her cheeks suddenly felt extremely warm, flushing to a bright crimson. "That… that accusation is so stupid! How could you say that?"

"Wait, Kari-chan likes Sasuke?" Naruto asked turning his perplexed blue orbs to meet hers.

"What!? I thought you hated him!" Sakura cried, locking her fiery emerald orbs with her frightened silvery blue ones.

"I DO!" She insisted, shaking her head to relieve herself of such uncomfortable heat. "I was just taken aback by something so ridiculous. That's all."

Naruto and Sakura exhaled a loud sigh of relief, feeling all was right in the world. They were sure the world would crumble if Kari and Sasuke had feelings for each other in _that_ sense.

"And likewise. Now please finally refrain from asking me such an asinine question again… or else," he threatened calmly, walking over to his respective place.

With an angry nerve pulsating from her temple, she shouted, "At least my question made sense! Yours truly was stupid!"

A whistle ripped through the air before the Uchiha could offer some sort of reply. The ball was quickly put into play.

Sakura first held possession of the ball, but Karin promptly ran in, swiping it right out of her hands. The redhead tossed the ball to her teammate, who then began dribbling it down the court.

'_Okay, Kari. You can do this. You have to try…_' Kari encouraged as she threw herself in front of the massive basketball player.

He paused for one moment, blinking at the sudden appearance of such a scrawny girl. He snorted, trying to maneuver his way around the human obstacle.

But Kari was persistent. She refused to let him pass her. With an irritated grunt, the enemy member finally gave up trying to make his way around the adamant silvery female, and decided to dash forward, possibly prodding over Kari if it was necessary.

Caught off guard by the sudden movement, Kari jumped upwards, losing her balance completely. She toppled over, falling right onto her face.

'_Stupid clumsiness! There goes my first team contribution…_'

Little did she expect the basketball player to collapse near her, tripping over her body and accidentally releasing the ball form his grip.

'_Wah…?_'

She watched as the basketball bounce on the wooden floorboards, magically landing in Sasuke's dexterous hands. He swiftly weaved through the masses of bodies and shot the ball in with a satisfying swish.

"We…. Actually scored?" Kari propped her torso up with her elbows, incredulous that such an event occurred. She thought she fell into deep unconsciousness and was dreaming.

"Good job, Kari-chan!" Sakura cheered, lifting the confused girl off the floor.

Naruto ran over and slapped her back proudly. "Yeah! You're klutziness serves a practical purpose!"

"Ha ha. Very funny, Naruto," Kari said, still in a daze. She turned her attention to Sasuke, standing alone in the distance with his arm crossed over his chest. His gaze slowly met hers.

"Hn." Even if she was much too faraway to hear it, she could feel he was saying it, _thinking_ it even.

'_Arrogant prick… can't humble himself enough to say I did pretty good!_'

After a brief glaring match between the two figures, Kari turned her attention to the incoming redhead, her eyes wide with shock.

"H…how… you… that?" Karin stammered, unable to organize into an intelligent sentence.

"What's the matter? Cat caught your tongue?" Kari smiled and walked closer to her. "Don't count on your victory just yet. This game is far from over."

Karin ceased her unintelligent stuttering, her face flushing to an angry scarlet. With an angry groan, Karin shoved the confident Kikuchi aside, stomping back to her side of the gym.

'_Let the real game begin…_'

* * *

Now things get serious! Just who will win? The clumsy Kikuchi Hikari? Or the vindictive Karin? You will only find out in the conclusion of the match in the next chapter!!

Kari: And last calls for bet ideas! Once the winner is called, we shall reveal what the bet was! …Hopefully I won't have to show what mine was the hard way.

Thanks for reading and for all those awesome people who reviewed/favorited/alerted this story! Especially Hikari-letel-blood for being an awesome supporter!!

Misc Notes: Eehh… I hate writer's block!! Writing this was torture. I wasn't even sure if I was keeping Sasuke in character so sorry if there was some OOC moments.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Entering – Conclusion: A Victor Emerges!**

'_Okay, Hikari, do not be scared. Do __**not**__ be scared_,' she repeated in her mind, her calming mantra throughout the game. Her uneasy hands grasped the orange basketball with cold, nervous beads of sweat skating down her hot temples. '_Just stay calm… Do not freak out._'

With each thunderous squeak of the incoming stampede, she felt her resolve waver, wearing down as her primordial instinct began to take control. Her vibrant steel-blue orbs shimmered in fear.

Finally, Kari snapped, allowing instinct to overwhelm logic. '_Okay! Screw being calm!_' A scream ripped from her throat, echoing in the midst of the amalgamating din of squeaking sneakers and ragged breaths. She quickly dashed away, dribbling the ball away from the scary basketball players.

"STOP CHASING ME!" She cried, running wildly throughout the gym area.

"Kari, try dribbling the ball to the hoop," advised Sakura, unable to advance any closer due to a red-haired roadblock.

'_Yeah… that would be the smart thing, wouldn't it?_' Deliberating her next course of action, Kari turned and began running towards the closest hoop, fighting an anxious tightness building in her throat.

"Kikuchi, here!" Sasuke shouted, waving his arms over his head.

Kari simply gazed at him curiously, unable to understand why he wanted the ball. She had a perfect shot. She could shoot it in if she just got a little closer. Why did he insist on getting the ball?

Indignation welled deep within her as an idea blossomed in her mind. Did he doubt she could make it in? Would it just be a waste of time if she even tried?

'_I'll show him! I'm going to make it in there!_' With a loud grunt and determination flaring in her once fearful orbs, Kari tossed the ball, watching as it arced upwards towards the hoop. Cheer exploded from the bleachers, increasing in intensity as the ball rolled around the hoop's circular mouth.

Kari felt her breath cease, watching in restless anticipation to see if the ball would tip in, or topple right into the awaiting arms of an enemy team member.

'_Come on… please let my luck be good for once! Let the ball go in…_' Cleaving tightly to her hopes and wishes, she saw something she never expected to happen. The ball slowly fell in, slipping through the hoop's opening.

"Yes!! I actually did it!" Kari announced gleefully, shooting her arms happily into the open air. "I scored, people!"

The cheers ceased. That silence slowly diffused throughout the room, broken only by the ear-shattering cacophony of laughter.

"You sure did, Hikari! Excellent shot," Karin exclaimed, patting her roughly on her shoulder.

All jollity escaped from her features, slowly replaced by a growing pang of worried curiosity.

Karin _congratulating_ her? Something must be wrong. There was no way that spiteful redhead would say something like that. Her head promptly turned towards the others, hoping someone would offer some sort of light in the subject.

Everyone's features were utterly blank, gaping at her with evident shock in their wide eyes.

'_W… what happened? Did I do something wrong?_' Kari wondered worriedly, paging through her memory banks for some sort of reason. '_Is it because I actually scored? Is everyone shocked that I shot the ball into the basket?_'

Before she could project her inquiry to the general public, a harsh smack to her head caught her attention

"You loser!" Sasuke growled.

"There's no need for such violence, teme! That hurt, you know," Kari snapped, massaging her tender skull.

"I was just trying to smack some sense into your brain since you don't have any. Just what were you thinking? I was open for god's sakes!"

"Oh? And let you score while I while I can do it myself? Fat chance!"

"Wait. Is _that_ what you think?" Sasuke's dark brow twitched in annoyance. "Your idiocy never ceases to amaze me! Are you really that oblivious? You just…"

"What a turn of events!" Gai's booming voice cut off Sasuke's harangue, catching everyone's undivided attention with his roaring tone. "Karin's team is now leading by one point!"

Kari's mouth slacked ajar. "W…what?! How's that possible? I just scored a point!"

"Oh yeah, you did. You just scored in our basket, baka!"

Her jaw completely collapsed, falling right down to the floor. Her bright orbs widened to a large, silvery blue plates. "You got to be kidding me, Uchiha! I did?"

The irritated raven-haired male nodded.

'_So that was the reason why Karin was saying something so cordially…_' Kari realized why she thought the cheers sounded strange – they really were incoherent cries to make her stop.

'_Just my luck! The one time I'm actually able to shoot a basket it ends up being a bad thing._' With a disappointed chagrin on her lips, Kari turned her gaze towards different faces – ranging from blatant awe to gentle sympathy – and her gaze settled on Karin. Rage gurgled deep in her veins just staring at the condescension inundating from her black frames.

'_She's enjoying my misery far too much. It was just a stupid mistake for god's sakes!_'

Kari reverted her incensed leer to the Uchiha male. All ire slowly fizzled away, replaced with a fear that chilled her very bones. Such malice that emanated from his cold, black spheres! It could make even the bravest and most fearless of souls cower, tremble in inexplicable trepidation.

'…_Alright. I guess now I know what Karin is enjoying._'

Kari swallowed, barely able to choke out, "S…Sorry?"

With his customary grunt, Sasuke stormed away from the unnerved Kikuchi to his respective place. His lips were pressed to a thin, angry line. His fists were clenched so tightly that all blood drained away, leaving behind a phantasmal shade of white.

The silvery girl was, of course, aware why he was so aggravated by the blunder. They finally tied the score after all.

After all that hard work, they end up being behind once more, and to top it all off, there was so little time before the game was over.

Sasuke himself had admitted her hated losing above all else. If Karin's team was victorious…

'_Okay, scary thoughts! Scary, terrifying thoughts!_' Kari felt a violent shiver run down her spine.

"Hey, s'okay, Kari-chan!" Naruto appeared at her side, slapping her shoulder comfortingly. "This is just something I'd expect from our team's klutz! You help make the game more interesting."

"Er, thanks, Naruto… I think," Kari replied, rubbing her sore shoulder.

"You shouldn't worry though. I have a plan that will help us win!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Easy! We're going to utilize your clumsy nature and use it to our advantage!" The blonde cheerily stated, feeling no shame for his remark.

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, you see that guy near the jumpers?" Kari followed Naruto's outstretched hand, pointing passed Lee, his bug-like eyes fixated on the orange sphere, and his opponent. Standing near the two was a tall, young man, his defined muscles flexed and tensed, leaning slightly more on his right foot.

"Hey, isn't that they guy that I accidentally tripped?" Kari wondered aloud.

"Yeah! When you both tripped, you must have sprained his ankle. Good job by the way! Injuring the opposition was genius!"

With an angry jab to his shoulder, Kari scolded, "Shut up! That is not a good thing, and definitely not something I would be proud of, _baka_! Do you plan on enlightening exactly what your plan is or do you need me to knock some sense into you?"

"No, no. I'm good. Just chill out," Naruto soothed, rubbing his sore limb. "Jeez, that really hurt! Are you becoming a second Ino and Sakura? What's next? Will you drool and worship at Sasuke's feet?"

Fighting the urge to smack the blonde's spiky head yet again, Kari growled with an irritated twitch of her silver brow, "Just spill."

The whistle then blew, catching both of their attentions. Sadly, Lee was not so lucky in the jump ball. The enemy team member smacked the ball away, right into the crippled boy's arms. Even with an injury, Kari was amazed how skillfully he weaved passed the incoming bodies, vying for the ball that bounced steadily in his hands.

The whiskered young boy whispered, "Okay, here's my idea. I was thinking that while you guard that guy, somehow you'd both fall and he'd sprain his other ankle or something. With your clumsy nature, something is bound to happen!"

"That's just awful! How could you want to exploit my clumsiness and wish I would harm someone?" Kari gasped.

"I don't really want to hurt anyone!" He retorted. "I'm just hoping you'd trip and break a bone. That's all." Doubt glazed her steel-blue irises as she gaped at him, raising a questioning brow. Naruto then asked, "Look, do you want to lose and show everyone what your side of the bet is?"

Kari visibly tensed, slowly pondering the query carefully in her mind. Then, once she finally deliberated a response, she released a defeated sigh. "No… but I just feel there's something we're forgetting that would be so much safer…"

"Point!" Anko exclaimed, retrieving two sets of oceanic orbs.

"Ah, come on! Already? That was way too quick!" Kari whined. "Who scored?" The blonde boy shrugged his shoulders, unsure of the answer as well.

The earsplitting din of squeals answered her inquiry.

"Oh, I should have known! That's what you were forgetting, Naruto," Kari reminded him. "You forgot to consider the 'Show-off Uchiha Factor'."

They both watched as Sasuke casually strolled towards the two, wiping away a single bead of sweat from his temple.

"Yo, losers. When you're done yapping your mouths away, try actually _playing_ the game?" Sasuke stated brusquely then ambled away.

"YOU TEME! I had the perfect plan!" Naruto yelled after him.

"Just let it go, Naruto. Let it go," soothed the silvery female, glaring at the raven-haired male in the distance.

'_Arrogant show-off…_'

"Okay, kids! We have only a few minutes left," announced Gai. "Everyone, take a few moments to work out your last game plan."

Anko grinned and added, "Yeah! I want to see someone break this tie."

Kari mumbled, "Why do I have this strange sense of déjà vu?"

"Come on, Kari-chan! We're going to talk about a plan now!" The hyperactive knucklehead clasped the silver-haired female's wrist, dragging her to their small group.

"So does anyone have any ideas what we should do?" Lee asked.

Naruto's hand quickly shot up. "I DO! I DO!" Doubt and skepticism varnished his fellow team members' features, encouraging the hyper blonde to elucidate. "Okay, well I was thinking we should execute the 'Klutzy Kari factor'!"

Several orbs widened, shock flowing into their eyes. The said female felt her knees buckle from beneath her, collapsing at the very suggestion.

She interjected from below, "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard! I thought we talked about this already!"

Ignoring the affronted silvery girl, Naruto offered further elaboration. "Yeah, we should just let Kari loose on all of Karin's teammates. Eventually most of them would have broken limbs and can't continue the game! Who knows? She may even knock one of them unconscious!"

The blonde suddenly howled in pain, gripping his poor leg after an assault from below. "Oi, baka! Don't talk like I'll injure everyone I'm come in contact with!"

"But, Kari-chan, it's true. I thought I pointed that guy you crippled a few moments ago."

"Just shut up!" The injured Uzumaki nearly collapsed, feeling his other leg the target of the next assault.

"…For once, I agree with Kikuchi," Sasuke admitted indifferently, seated on the bleachers. "That plan is completely idiotic, dobe."

Naruto turned his head away with aloud harrumph, affronted by the sudden rejection of his idea.

With a loud humph, Kari scornfully said, "Thank you!"

"But… I agree with the fact we should implement her in some manner.

"What?" Naruto asked, his electric blue orbs glittering curiously at the statement.

Kari cried, "WHAT?!"

Sasuke then took liberties to enlighten them. "Alright. Here's the plan…"

\\=x=//

"So does everyone understand?" The Uchiha asked, his fingers interlocked and placed under his chin.

"No!" Kari moaned, still seated pitifully on the hardwood floor. "Haven't I subjected myself to enough torment and suffering in the sake of team participation?"

"No, not really. Besides, you need to do some form of redemption after that scoring slip-up," Sasuke replied bluntly, unperturbed by her whining.

"Ah, come on, Uchiha! Everyone makes mistakes, neh? Cut me some slack already!"

"Just get up and move that fat ass of yours out on the court. We have a game to finish," Sasuke told her sternly, unfurling his fingers and walking towards his respective place on the court.

The sulky Kikuchi raised her tired torso upwards, leering at him. "Stupid Uchiha… That is the worst plan I ever heard of…"

"Do not fret, Hikari! You shall do fine," encouraged Lee, his white teeth sparkling under the bright fluorescence. She simply nodded her head in response, tailing behind the pink fan girl as she squealed how cool Sasuke is.

The crippled boy stood in the center, seeming perfectly fine as he awaited for his adversary to arrive.

Swallowing a nervous lump wedged in her throat, Kari tentatively stepped forward, looking up to meet the boy's gaze.

A loud chortle echoed in the gymnasium. "Oh. My. God! Kikuchi Hikari is doing the jump ball? You must _want_ to lose!" Karin choked out in the midst of her hysterics.

Kari's countenance flushed an angry red, glaring at the hysterical redhead. '_Oh, so far great plan, teme. Make me a laughingstock before I even do anything! Simply brilliant._'

"So are you two ready?" Anko queried, holding the basketball with avid excitement. Kari anxiously nodded her head as her opponent.

"Don't be too hard on the shrimp, Himeji! With her height, I doubt she can even touch the ball!" Karin taunted, bemused by the arrangement.

'_...shrimp? She did not just call me a shrimp!_' Kari gritted her teeth; her muscles growing taut. An angry aura slowly radiated from her being, darkening her orbs to a torrential navy.

'_How dare she say that! My size has nothing to do with this!_' Kari crouched low to the floor, her angry eyes concentrated orange ball. '_I'll show Karin what this little shrimp can do…_'

Then the room fell dead silent. Both competitors stood quietly in their place. Their muscles tensed, their gazes locked on the orange ball.

"…Go!"

The ball flew high into the air, and Kari leapt up from the wooden floor and high into the air. Himeji froze in his place, gawking at her incredible height. He simply watched as the silvery female smacked the ball to her teammate, landing gracefully on her feet.

With a confident smile on her lips, she turned her attention to the shocked redhead. "Not bad for a shrimp, neh? Who needs to go easy on who now?"

With a loud, irritated grunt, Karin turned her head away from her while the shocked Himeji simply bounded for the new holder of the ball. Still withholding her confidence on her general visage, she skipped towards her designated spot. On the surface, Kari seemed to command poise and confidence.

…on the inside, her mind was abuzz with ecstasy

'_**YES**__! What now?_' She inwardly cheered, resisting the urge to jump in her place. '_I never expected to actually get that! If that big behemoth did jump, I would have been in trouble!_'

Returning her elated attention to the game, the silver girl watched as Sakura weaved through the sweaty crowds, passing the ball to Lee once she had an opening.

'_So far so good…_' Kari noticed, replaying Sasuke's words to help comfort her mind.

'_No matter if Kikuchi is able to even touch it or not, Sakura will somehow get her hands on the ball, diverting all attention away from Kikuchi. She then will pass the ball to Lee._'

The crowd quickly surrounded the bowl-haired male, preventing any significant advances towards the hoop.

'_Next, Naruto will receive the ball._'

Somehow, Lee threw the ball passed the thick barricade of human bodies and into Naruto's arms.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, holding the ball away from enemy hands.

'_Then I will have the ball._'

Sasuke emerged from thin air, grabbing the ball effortlessly into his hands. The raven-haired Uchiha dribbled the ball down the court, pursued by a bulky mass of players.

'_All of them should be surrounding me as I near the hoop. Once I decide the time is right, I will shoot the ball towards the hoop…_' Kari swallowed a large lump, watching as Sasuke toss the ball expertly above enemy claws. '_And it land in your hands._'

'_Got it!_' Kari deliberated, immediately dashing towards the hoop when the ball fell into her arms.

'_No one should be close enough to stop you, but the moment the ball is in your hands, you have to run straight to the hoop. Don't stop for anything. The other players will notice you have the ball and will be heading straight towards you._'

"Go straight to the hoop, Kari. No stopping," she reiterated under her breath, feeling her heart thrum against her chest.

She hated to admit it, but his plan was pretty good. They certainly would have never expected someone to pass the ball to Kari and trust her enough to shoot the last basket of the game.

No matter how good or how stupid Kari thought it may be, she could feel the pressure weighing down her being, filling her head with a myriad of doubts and concerns.

How could they expect her to shoot the ball in? Sure, she was able to do it the last time, but that was probably a fluke – a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing. Just what would happen if she missed?

'_Don't worry about that now. Just go straight for the basket and shoot._' Her breaths were heavy, and the ball thundered in her ears.

Suddenly, as she was shooting the ball up towards the hoop, a blur of scarlet obstructed her view and tackled her right to the ground.

"OOF!" As both females tumbled onto the floor, Kari felt numb to the pain that erupted from the impact.

Deaf to Kari's loud gripes of pain and everyone's cries of concern.

Blind to her teammates running worriedly towards her.

All she could see was the ball.

The orange sphere twirled around the basket's mouth, performing a dance that shamelessly teased the anxious female. It tottered back and forth, making one unable to even predict where the ball would it would land.

'_Just fall already!_'

After a nerve-racking eternity, the ball finally tipped over.

Her heart ceased beating. All oxygen rushed out from her lungs.

"No way…"

The whistle blew. "That's game!! Kikuchi Hikari's team is victorious!"

"Oh my god! You did it, Kari!" Sakura cried, enveloping the shocked silver-haired girl in a joyful embrace.

"I… I did, didn't I?" Kari mumbled, more to herself then to her pink-haired friend.

"Yay! Good job, Kari-chan! We won!" Naruto exclaimed, emerging from thin air and wrapping his arms around the two females. "Your clumsiness really is good for something!"

"Don't remind me, baka…" a muffled version of the Kikuchi's voice spoke up, crushed by the two imposing bodies. "Can you two let me go? I think I'm starting to lose feeling in my limbs."

"Yeah, of course." The two quickly separated themselves from the suffocating Kari. Sakura heatedly glared at the content blonde. "I believe one of us was far too close for comfort."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Sakura-chan!" Naruto failed to feign innocence, joyous over the fact he got to hug the floral Haruno. "But I knew we'd have to execute 'Klutzy Kari' sooner or later! If we knew you could only score if someone tripped you, I would have pushed someone in front of you a long time ago!"

"Don't say that, moron!" Sakura yelled, smacking the blue-eyed Uzumaki in the back of his head.

"Ouch! Come on, Sakura! Haven't I received enough bruises for one day?" he whined, massaging his raw skull.

"Apparently no if you still insist on saying such stupid things! I'm not that clumsy," Kari snapped, promptly jabbing him right in his arm.

"OUCH!" Naruto mumbled incoherently under his breath, grumbling something about Kari transforming into a 'second Sakura'. Kari rolled her eyes, watching as the others clamored over to her.

"Good job, guys!" Hinata congratulated.

"Yeah… Kari actually made the stupid sport interesting with all that fumbling," Ino teased.

Leaning on the two females for support, Ten Ten joked, "I guess you really didn't need me after all!"

A pair of bright silvery blue orbs whirled in a perfect circle. "Oh yes! My suffering was more then enough to make up for your absence. I just can't wait to count all the bruises I received from actually participating in this."

Ten Ten chuckled, gently patting her on her shoulder.

"**HI-CHAN!**" A blur of purple flew from out of nowhere, crushing the unsuspecting silvery female with a bone-shattering embrace. "Oh, I knew you could do it! You're not a total loss after all!"

"T…Thanks, Anko…" Kari choked out, desperately trying to drag oxygen back into her breathless lungs.

Anko simply hugged tighter, squeezing the life out of Kari in the midst of frenzied cheers. "But seriously! This was a spectacle! _Sigh_… If only Kakashi-san and your father were here to see this…"

Anko visibly tensed, cursing herself and her verbal blunder. The purple-haired instructor dropped her gaze to examine the silvery girl. Her ruby orbs dulled with concern, worried over Kari's abrupt change in demeanor.

Sadness glazed steel-blue orbs, contorting her once jubilant smile to a deep frown. Anko quickly subdued her tight grasp on the girl to a soft, comforting hug. She gently crooned words of comfort, but Kari could not hear a single thing.

_**Underneath my smile lies a girl, broken like shattered glass.**_

Everyone was much too preoccupied in their merriment to even notice Kari's sudden onset of melancholia.

_**My heart is wrought with holes, completely damaged from my loss…**_

Only one seemed to notice. This one person stood aside from the jollity, standing calmly and unperturbed by the victory, simply scrutinized the silver-haired female's distraught form.

…_**Is there anyone out there that could help pick up my shattered pieces?**_

Just before this person could swallow his pride to interrogate her, a boisterous blonde presented a query, "Hey, Kari-chan, since you won, doesn't that mean you have to prepare Karin for her bet?"

That inquiry sparked something deep within her, setting her oceanic blue orbs ablaze. Hikari extricated herself form Anko's gentle embrace, processing Naruto's words in her mind.

"Yeah! When are we going to see Karin humiliate herself?" Ino inquired, her icy blue eyes sparkling at the very prospect.

Dejection no longer held Kari's countenance as joy overwhelmed her features. "That's right! You guys will see at the end of the day. I did say I had _everything_ ready, didn't I?"

"B…But what are you going to do?" mumbled the timid Hyuuga

"Oh, don't worry! You'll see, Hinata! It's going to be something, I promise you that." Kari quickly turned around to see Karin attempting to sneak away. "Now where do you think you're going? We had a deal, remember?"

As the redhead turned to face the ecstatic female, her crimson brow twitched in annoyance, mumbling a flurry of invectives and curses towards Kari.

\\=x=//

The rest of the day rolled passed quickly, especially in the eye of a silver-haired someone. Her step withheld a tiny skip, and she whistled some random, joyful tune.

Not even a remnant of sadness appeared in her gleeful countenance. One would have not even suspected she was depressed in the first place. It completely vanished from her visage, glowing only with palpable bliss.

"This day is just getting better and better!" Kari said melodically, nearly frolicking in the hallways.

"Kikuchi, why are you so happy?"

Startled, Kari jumped at the sound of the voice, biting down on her tongue to suppress a loud scream.

"Uchiha, what's your deal? You… caught me by surprise," she cried, trying to dismiss the metallic taste in her mouth as she straightened her posture.

"Irrelevant," Sasuke replied and repeated his inquiry, "Why are you so happy?"

"Teme, have you forgotten that quickly? One reason why I'm happy is because we won! How could you forget how I scored the winning basket?" Kari inquired, placing her hands on her hips.

"It was because of my plan we won, or did you forget _that_?" he refuted.

"Even though it was _your_ plan, _I_ was the one who scored! That counts for something, doesn't it?"

"You just got lucky, loser. I doubt it went in due to legitimate skill." Seeing Kari's lips purse to a pout, clearly affronted by the accusation, Sasuke's dark orbs whirled in a perfect circle. "So what's the other reason?"

She failed to respond, blinking several times in response. Confusion overpowered her irritation, flooding into her features.

"Hn. You really are such a loser…"

"Hey!"

Ignoring her cry, the Uchiha replied, "Well you said that was one reason why you were happy. There must be more."

"Oh! That's what you meant. You have to speak more clearly, Uchiha," Kari said. "The other reason why I'm happy is because of the bet! I just finished prepping Karin up."

"OOH! So we're finally going to see what the bet was?!" Naruto cried, emerging in between the two scholars.

"Where'd you come from, dobe?" Sasuke asked, unfazed by his appearance.

"None of you business! I can talk to my friends if I want to," the blonde retorted, leering at the dark-haired Uchiha. "What are _you_ doing here, Sasuke?"

"If you're really blind, you should know I was conversing with Kikuchi here."

"So? I doubt she really is keen in speaking with you and your arrogant head."

"I doubt she would be keen on speaking with anyone while she suffers from the massive headache she received from dealing with your loud mouth."

"What was that!?"

"Um… It's nice to see you, Naruto," Kari nervously interjected, stepping in between the two angry boys. "And yeah! _Everyone_ is going to see what Karin's side of the bet was!"

"But what would Kari do if she lost?" The blonde inquired.

"What would _I_ have to do? If I lost, I would have had to pretend to be super drunk in gym," Kari admitted.

"Hn. That's all? What a waste of my time…" Sasuke grumbled crossly under his breath.

"No! Don't you dare say that, Uchiha! Do you have any idea how humiliating that would be? Smacking people, like teachers, across the face… actually being bald?"

"NO! Kari-chan would have to shave her hair off?!" Naruto cried, aghast by the very thought.

"Thank god no! I would have had to pretend I did by wearing a bald cap. That thing is so itchy and hot! I don't want my hair sitting in that thing for so long." Kari shuddered at the thought, tenderly holding her thick, silver tendrils in between her pale fingers. "Worst of all, I actually had to accidentally lock lips with two people because I'm 'so drunk'."

"What?" Sasuke asked, shocked by the thought.

Naruto inquired, "Who would those two people be?"

Wrinkling her nose in disgust and taking a tentative step back, she replied, "One random person and… you, Naruto."

"WHAT?" Sasuke repeated his inquiry, his dark orbs widening at the statement.

Kari and Naruto created a gagging harmony, covering their mouths.

"But I don't even like you like that!" Naruto shouted. "You're like a sister to me. If I kissed my sister… EW! That would be incest, wouldn't it? GROSS!"

"Don't make me think about it… especially in that way," Kari gagged once more, fighting the bile that threatened to escape from her throat. "But that's why I had to win! I needed to preserve my lip-ginity, you know."

"Hn… I heard worse. That's not that bad," the dark-haired Uchiha grumbled indifferently under his breath, ennui spreading over his features. "What about the other one?"

Allowing another shudder to run down his spine, Naruto asked, "When will we see Karin?"

A bright smile graced her lips, sparkling her steel-blue eyes. "Oh, you will see in three… two… one."

An eruption of laughter surrounded them as the redhead walked through the halls… at least, the _partial_ redhead.

Naruto's mouth plummeted to the tiled floors. His electric blue eyes widened into two wide plates. Even Sasuke was agape, gawking at Kari's handiwork.

The proud silver-haired girl announced, "Please welcome… Karin the clown!"

The instigator of the hysteria was donning the typical clown habiliments – a bright, polka dotted, puffy top, oversized matching pants, and a pair of gigantic, red shoes. A frilly material pleated her neckline, framing her face, and a giant flower stood prominently against her garish shirt.

Karin's face was painted a pallid white. Green and blue encircled her annoyed crimson orbs, and red paint decorated her mouth, concealing her scowl with a wide, red smile. The traditional rubber nose was lurid on the white paint.

Kari's grin widened as she gazed at Karin's hair – her masterpiece she felt.

"K…Ki…Kikuchi," Sasuke choked out, finding himself completely speechless.

Naruto attempted to finish the sentence, " I… Is Karin's hair actually…?"

"Oh yeah. It is!"

Her uneven red tresses were coifed up into a poofy afro, but Kari did not stop there. Instead of leaving the female's tendrils to its natural red, Kari felt exceptionally inspired. Each section of Karin's already garish mane was devoted to a specific color of the rainbow. The clown's puffy fro began with her natural scarlet followed by streaks of the brightest orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple she could get her hands on.

Sasuke remained flabbergasted, unable to contain his shock over Karin's general appearance. Naruto roared into a sidesplitting laughter, rolling on the floor at the very sight.

"Ooh! This is brilliant, Kari-chan!" Ino happily told her, clasping a camera tightly in her hands. "I'm so happy I brought my camera with me today!"

"Get that thing away from me, you blonde pig!" Karin growled. Ino ignored her, quickly snapping yet another photo of the clown.

"Oh yes, I bet Karin just loves her new look. Isn't that right, Karin?" Kari provoked, beaming.

"Watch it, Hikari. I'm in no mood for you," Karin said ominously, rage bubbling underneath her black frames.

"But I'm just saying. I think I was helping you here. As a clown, you're supposed to make people laugh and look! Everyone's laughing because of you! Isn't it nice to know you're doing your job?"

"That's it! Eat water, Hikari!" Karin squeezed the flower on her shirt… only for water to splash onto her face.

"Ha ha! Nice try. I rigged the flower so it would only squirt you. Who's the smart one now?" Kari said triumphantly.

With a strange glint in her ruby orbs, she smiled. "Oh… I'm not done yet! Do you know what else clowns like to do?" Before Kari could ask what, a pie smashed into her face, covering her with cream. "Clowns throw pies into people's faces!"

The Kikuchi froze in her place, only moving to wipe the sugary pastry off her features. With a dark chuckle, Kari corrected, "Actually, clowns are supposed to throw pies into their own faces!"

With the white cream on her hands, Kari slapped it right onto Karin's face. Enraged, Karin countered, plopping another boston cream right on top of her silver head. "Then I dub thee as the queen of clowns!"

"My hair!" Kari cried, tenderly caressing her silver hair that was caked with cream.

"_Your_ hair? What about mine? This junk better wash off!"

"Oh, sure… eventually…"

Karin sputtered, rage resonating from her ruby orbs. "**KIKUCHI HIKARI!**"

Thus began the pie war. Pans of boston cream flew through the air, landing on their desired targets, walls and ceilings, and even unlucky bystanders.

"Losers…" Sasuke mumbled, impassively watching the two continue in their food fight.

"Losers or not, this is all great for my blog!" Ino exclaimed, shamelessly capturing their creamy battle on film.

Naruto curiously inquired, "But… where did all the pie come from?"

The two simply shrugged, just as lost as he was. Sakura and Hinata sidled closer to them.

"Um… I think it's from us…" Hinata daintily admitted.

The pink Haruno added, "Yeah, we were hauling a cartful of pies from the culinary arts class last period."

The three diverted their attention away from the combating females towards the silver cart, piled high with pie.

"Oh!"

"But shouldn't someone stop them?" Hinata asked.

"Nah, don't worry, Hinata! Someone will come in about three… two… one."

"What's all this!" Gai exclaimed, his dark orbs horrorstruck by the state of the hallway. Karin and Kari froze, holding two pies in their cream-filled palms. "Ah-hah! You two have a lot of explaining to Tsunade-sama in her office!"

Skidding across the sweet, sugary substance, the green beast lunged for the two's ears.

"Gai-sensei, she started it!" The two exclaimed.

Gai simply answered with arousing pull of the sensitive lobes. "Yeah, and you, Kari and your carnie friend, will end it."

"Aw… poor Kari…" Sakura mumbled.

"Yeah. Kari-chan got creamed!" Naruto said, snickering at his word play. A unison of groans sounded.

"That was the stupidest thing I ever heard," Sakura cried.

"What? It's just that Kari never expected victory to be so… sweet." As Naruto roared once again into sidesplitting laughter, another harmony of groans answered him.

"Stop with all the puns!" Ino yelled, walking away from the whiskered male with Hinata and Sakura.

"You're a loser…" Sasuke remarked, sauntering away from him,

"Ah, come on! They're all gold, guys! You all just don't understand my clever wordplay," he shouted after them.

"If you mean we can't understand how stupid you are for making such awful puns, then I agree…"

"What was that, Sasuke?! I didn't seem to hear you!" After receiving absolutely no reply, the enraged Naruto stomped after him. "Don't walk away from me, Uchiha! I'll give you a taste of humble pie."

As Naruto sniggered at his word choice, another loud harmony of groans answered, yelling, "STOP IT!"

* * *

Woo! I actually updated this story!! *pats self on back*

Kari: Yeah, about time… but you _had_ to defile my hair. My poor hair! What did I do to deserve this?!

Me: …Yeah, I don't know. Well, its better then losing, isn't it? Besides! You smell so good! XD

Kari: -__- Whatever… but seriously! Naruto needed to cut it out with all those puns. I wasn't sure how much I could take of Naruto's half-baked brain… oh my god. The puns are contagious! AH!

Me: Yeah… it seems so, but I have to say, I'm glad you gave Gai the slip! O.O

OH NO!!! I'm infected as well!

Kari: -__-;; Yeah… while you deal with that I'm going to wash the pie out of my hair.

Me: Yeah… anyways, thanks for reading! I'd like to thank all those who commented, favorited, or alerted this story! Love you all a whole lots!! Sorry if this took a long time...


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Entering - The Haunted House**

The resounding dissonance of high-pitched squeals and incoherent murmurs filled the hallways, blocking out all possible noise. Female students of all ages and sizes gathered around the instigator of the female frenzy, who stood proudly in the center.

"Do you think she really has it?" one girl asked, clearly hopeful.

"I doubt it! She's just bluffing!" her friend replied, hoping her thoughts were incorrect.

The center figure quickly hushed the prattle that surrounded her, commanding their full attention.

"Guess what I got?" With a dramatic flourish of her arms, Karin retrieved a certain white object from her bag, holding it aloft in her pale, white hands. A unison of gasps sounded at the sight before the air fell into another moment of unadulterated silence.

"I…is that?" A girl spoke in a breathy voice, her eyes expanding into two wide plates.

"Yes, girls. This really is **Uchiha Sasuke's** gym shirt!"

A loud cry erupted from the horde of fan girls, hearts glittering in their eyes.

"Ah, you're so lucky!" One girl cried.

"Can I touch it?" Another one exclaimed, clamoring to grasp the Uchiha's stolen shirt.

"Tut-tut! This is just for my hands and mine alone," Karin chastised, holding it out of the girl's restless hands as she reached out in inane hope to even brush her fingertips against the white fabric. Such an act incited further hysteria, causing the girls to attempt with increased fervor to touch the unattainable Uchiha's garment.

Only a select few did not squeal at the sight, retaining their poise and general sanity. One especially stood tall, her steely blue eyes gazing at the fan girls.

"These are one of those moments where I wonder why I'm the same gender as them," Kari shamefully admitted, shaking her long silver hair in dismay.

"That is much too cynical, Kari! You don't mean that," Ten Ten proclaimed.

"But it's true. Look at what is becoming of the female race! They are floundering over a shirt." Kari sighed, turning her attention towards her other companions. "What do you think, Ino and Saku…?" Kari blinked several times, not seeing a hide nor a hair of the pink and blonde. "..ra?"

"Where's Sakura and Ino?" Hinata inquired.

Ten Ten and Kari shrugged their shoulders, they themselves unsure of the answer.

"Oh my god! Guys! Guys!" The three females turned their heads, seeing their two missing friends run towards them with bright smiles gracing their lips.

"Hey there. We were just talking about you two," Ten Ten said.

Hinata asked, "Where did you guys go?"

"And why are you two so happy? I know it's the end of the day and all, but that's nothing to get all hyped up over," Kari added.

With a quick, ecstatic squeal, Ino took liberties to explain, "Okay, guys. We're sorry, but we just went over to see Karin's shirt."

"And we even snuck a chance to _smell_ it!" Sakura swooned dreamily, a light pink flush gracing her features. "Its even better then I imagined..."

"Yeah," Ino added. "Sasuke's sweat does smell pretty good..."

"Whoa! Wait just a minute. You two disappeared just to try and smell that disgusting, sweaty shirt?" Kari asked, wrinkles of disgust varnishing her visage.

"Y... Yeah. Sort of," Ino admitted meekly.

Kari's face drained of all emotion, scrutinizing the yellow Yamanaka. To think, Ino was supposed to be a _recovering_ fan girl. Hikari surmised that once a fan girl always a fan girl...

Sakura then was the object of her attention. No words could fully describe Kari's reaction, feeling she had reached an all-time new level of obsession... Not as high as Karin, of course, but Sakura was getting there.

The silvery girl turned her attention towards Ten Ten, shooting her a pointed glance.

"Come on. Tell me now you're not ashamed to be the same gender as them?"

Ten Ten failed to offer a response, simply shaking her head. Bemusement flickered over Kari's features as she turned her attention back to the joyful females.

"But why did you even waste time trying to... Smell it?"

Befuddlement flowed into their rosy, love struck cheeks, regarding Kari curiously.

Kari then offered clarification, "What I meant was how do you even know that stupid shirt really is Sasuke's?"

A loud harmony of gasps echoed in the hallways; all the noise quickly hushed. Kari blinked, finding hundreds of shocked eyes locked on her diminutive form, regarding the silvery female as if she was an aberration of sorts. One female pushed passed the large group of girls, stomping right towards the motionless Kikuchi.

"What did you just ask?"

"How do we know that shirt really belongs to Sasuke?" Kari confusedly repeated.

Karin's crimson orbs burned with rage, aflame with angry, red lava. "How dare you challenge the authenticity of this shirt! This is the real deal, Hikari!"

"Well, Karin, I must tell you that I was not challenging anything. It was jut a question. Don't take stuff so personally," Kari asserted, placing one hand on her hip. "Second of all, how do _we_ know it's real? You could just be lying in order to gain the envious attention of all the Sasuke worshippers in this school."

Affronted, Karin yelled, "Don't you dare slander my good name! This is the real thing, and you want to know how I know? I took this shirt myself!"

"You... stole Sasuke's shirt?"

"Hell yeah, I did! It certainly was not easy, _baka_! I personally snuck into the boy's locker rooms and everything!"

A female voice projected an inquiry. "So if you snuck into the locker-room to take the shirt... D... Does that mean you saw Sasuke...?"

Frenzied squeals erupted from the fan girl population, hearts sparkling in their eyes. The loud screams nearly knocked the Kikuchi over, her sensitive ears ringing from the strident sound.

"Sadly, I did not see Sasuke shirtless... He was already changed and out the door by the time I grabbed the shirt," Karin admitted sadly. A disappointed chorus of moans sounded in the air.

"Wow... I'm not sure if I should be shocked that you would be crazy enough to steal his sweaty shirt, or they actually were enraptured by the thought of Sasuke topless," Kari admitted in disbelief, gently rubbing ringing ears.

After her statement, Kari then listened to desirous sighs as it transcended towards her recovering ears, pink blossoms blooming over many fan girls' cheeks. She dared not even look at Ino and Sakura, far too afraid to see if they fell victim to the 'Sasuke' epidemic.

"Shut up, Hikari. At least I don't still reek of pie," Karin scowled.

"Oh dear! Is that a strand of green I see, Karin?" Kari gasped, feigning shock as she gazed at her bright red hair.

The redhead gasped, picking at random locks in an inane search for a strand of hair dye. After assuring herself there was not a green tendril in sight, Karin orbs shot daggers into Kari's person, growling crossly between her clenched teeth, "I have to go."

"By all means go, _carnie_," the silver-haired mocked, amusement flickering wildly in her bight steel-blue orbs.

With one final, harrumph, Karin stormed off, tucking the shirt into her book bag. Feeling triumphant, Kari skipped back to her friends.

Ten Ten remarked, "Jeez, Kari-chan... Must you pick a fight with her every time you see her?"

She promptly defended, "Hey! It was not my fault. I never even started it this time. It was that demon's fault."

The brunette simply shook her head in dismay, finding herself unable to understand such an quarrelsome female. Seriously, just how could such a petite female have such a sharp tongue, such a fiery personality? Ten Ten, along with Kari's other friends, assumed that with a diminutive stature comes an even shorter fuse.

"Guys! Guys!" All five girls turned their heads towards the sudden emergence of a rambunctious blonde boy, waving a curious orange paper in his hands. "Look what I got!"

"Hey, is that the piece of paper that finally verifies that all Sasuke fan girls need mental help?" Kari teased.

"Nah, but I wish it was one for _you_!" Naruto then laughed. "Seriously, I just wanted to show this to you all."

Sakura inquisitively snatched the orange paper from his hands, scrutinizing the paper. "Hey, we're hosting a haunted house?"

"Ooh! I want to see!" Kari excitedly exclaimed, sidling closer to the pink-haired scholar.

"Why, yes. We are."

Her steel blue orbs ascended upwards, locking onto the source of the voice. The owner was a young man with long, dark brown hair. His eyes were nearly white, seemingly tinted with the most delicate color of lavender.

Such a materialization of such a person struck an inquisitive nerve. Kari rotated her head, glancing first at Hinata then back at the young boy. Their appearance was so similar that it amazed her.

"Say, Hinata-chan. Do you have a brother I don't know about?" Kari promptly inquired.

Just before the timid Hyuuga could open her mouth to reply, a chorus of chuckles resounded, causing her curiosity to spike yet another degree.

"What's so funny? I seemed to have missed the joke," Kari mumbled, looking at her fellow classmates with palpable confusion.

"Allow me to explain," the boy offered. "My name is Hyuuga Neji, and I am actually Hinata's cousin."

Ten Ten proudly boasted, "Neji is also the president of the sophomore class and captain of the Martial Arts Club!"

A low gasp of understanding escaped her lips, nodding her head in acknowledgement and continued to gape at him.

"And I can presume you are the new student I have heard so much about?"

The silver-haired female shook her head, realized she was staring – gawking really in a rather idiotic fashion – and replied with a meek smile, "Uh, yeah. My name's Kikuchi Hikari, but please call me Kari."

"Ooh! Yeah! I know you!" A new voice exclaimed, materializing from Neji's left side. "You're that Kari chick that schooled Karin and made her wear that clown getup! _Nice_."

"Yep! The one and only," Kari beamed, blissfully pleased by that simple reminder. "And you are?"

"My name's Inuzuka Kiba, and I am vice-president of the freshman class!" He replied, his lips revealing a toothy grin.

Naruto quietly added under his breath, "And the school dog freak…"

"Yeah, you're just lucky you helped us pass out all these stupid flyer or else I'd beat ya to oblivion," Kiba threatened, his doglike orbs narrowing into an irate sneer.

Naruto remained unfazed, unimpressed by the threat, and dubiously replied, "Tch. Sure. I'd like to see you try."

Just before the Inuzuka could whirl into action and possibly maul the male blonde, Ino's voice impatiently projected an inquiry, "Okay, enough of this! Are you going to explain this haunted house deal or not?"

"Jeez, Ino. Take a chill pill or something. We will get to that," Kiba languidly placated the impatient blonde, gazing into her annoyed blue eyes. "Well it's just this idea one teacher suggested. He offered to help us organize it if we decide to go through with it."

Neji added, "Both the freshman president and I agreed it was an excellent idea and decided to pursue it. After several weeks of planning and preparation, we finished it."

"Yeah, and they told me run around to tell everyone about it!" Naruto beamed, smiling his signature, idiotic grin.

"So when is it?"

Neji replied, "It's going to be on Halloween."

Kiba interjected, "Tomorrow night!"

"What?! It's going to be Halloween already?" Kari inquired in disbelief. As her fellow scholars all nodded their heads in confirmation, Kari found herself shocked by such a revelation. Has it really been that long since she entered the school? With such madness that goes on, how could she possibly lasted that long?

'_That will never cease to baffle me..._'

The male Hyuuga's voice sliced through he young girl's daze, reaching her ears, "I hope you all could join. This is supposed to be a fundraiser for our school after all. The more people, the better it is for our school."

"Yeah! Let's do it guys," Naruto cheered, his eyes glittering excitedly at the thought. "This could be fun!"

"Hell yeah! I love a good haunted house!" Kari exclaimed, high fiving the equally exuberant Uzumaki.

"I don't know... It could be really scary..." Hinata timidly said, clutching her arms nervously at the very thought.

Sakura assured, "Oh, don't worry, Hinata!"

"It can't be _that_ scary," Ino added, gently patting her back.

"Yeah! If you're all scared, I'll protect you," said the cocky Uzumaki, presenting himself confidently before them. "Uzumaki Naruto is not scared of anything!"

"Jeez, I feel so safe," Kari mumbled sarcastically, giggling at the blonde's sharp leer. "Well I'll see you all tomorrow night I guess."

"Aw, Kari-chan's leaving? I was hoping we could all hang out after school!"

"Sorry. I actually was supposed to do cleanup duty in the art room today. I have to check if my cleaning partner finished it all up so I don't have to do anything!" Kari explained cheerfully, drawing gazes of disbelief from her fellow contemporaries. They never expected her to be so lazy...

With a brusque goodbye, the silver-haired female turned on the soles of her heels and rushed off.

\\ =x=//

'_Please be finished. Please be finished. Please be finished!_' Kari prayed mentally as she walked into the art room, snapping her eyes shut.

She was much too tired (or too lazy) to do much of anything that day.

All she wanted to do was go straight home and rest. Besides, knowing who her partner was, everything should be spotless. There really should be nothing left for her to do if _he_ was cleaning.

_Squish!_

Kari froze in her place, realizing her prayers would remained unanswered. The female Kikuchi cringed as she opened her eyes and glanced down towards the ground. Sticky, black paint squished underneath the soles of her black school shoes, cleaving to her shoe as she struggled to liberate her foot.

Once her shoe was freed from its viscous imprisonment, she looked up, aghast at the state of the art room. Blotches of paint decorated the room at every possible point, creating a picture that Kari thought only a madman could have designed.

'_And I think I've spotted the fruit basket,_' Kari deliberated, her steel-blue eyes fixated on a certain dark-haired artist.

"Sai, what are you still doing here?" she asked, walking towards him. He raised his gaze, seeming unalarmed by the appearance of another human being.

He greeted monotonously, "Hey there, Hi-chan. I thought my cleaning partner would never show up."

"Uh, yeah! I got a little... Held up?" Kari tentatively fibbed before saying, "But you certainly did a _crap-tastic_ job at cleaning this place up. I think you made an even bigger mess!"

Wiping off a dark filament of paint from his cheek, Sai elucidated blandly, "Well I honestly did clean up, no thanks to a certain silver girl. Seeing that she was not going to show up anytime soon after her alleged trip to her locker, I decided to finish a few projects I needed to do."

"Just what did you to that made such a big mess? " Kari asked.

"Scenery for the haunted house tomorrow night. Those things are pretty big, you know. Thanks to your absence, I was able to complete it all," he replied, finishing rolling up an unusually large piece of paper – much bigger than some of the other gangly tubes that lay behind him. It was even taller than Sai!

"Why did you have to make something so big?" She wondered aloud, gawking at its enormous size. "What did you paint?"

"The supervisor of this event wanted me to do it for the house. It is for a worthy cause so I didn't mind. What exactly it is? You'll find that out when you come tomorrow night," he replied, grabbing other rolls of paper that ranged from both medium to unusually large sizes. "You are coming to the haunted house, yes?"

"Yeah, I am. I have no better way to spend Halloween anyway."

"Good... See you there, Hi-chan." With that final salutation, Sai strolled out the door, leaving the Kikuchi all to her silent lonesome.

She simply mumbled her goodbyes, wondering how he was able to carry that stack. If that was her, she would be bumping into all sorts of things...

Suddenly, a sense of clarity dawned over her, her gaze swiftly sweeping the vicinity.

"Stupid Sai..." She leaped over puddles of paint and yelled out the door, "Sai! Get back here! You have to help me clean your mess up!"

"You are competent enough to clean it yourself. Consider it your half of the job," the dark-haired artist nonchalantly yelled, his figure slowly disappearing in the distance.

Her cheeks captured a copious amount before her lips expelled it right out, along with a few unpleasant curses towards the dark-haired artist for leaving such a mess.

'_It's in even worse shape than it should be for god's sakes!_' Mumbling further gripes and complaints under her breath, Kari grabbed a mop and commenced cleaning.

As she completed mopping up a fourth of the room, a peculiar piece of paper captured her silvery blue eyes. She paused in her place, staring at the mysterious piece of paper as it sat next to a vial of paint, beckoning her to draw nearer. Her curiosity was piqued.

The Kikuchi answered the paper's silent call. She advanced blindly, much like a mouse is attracted to a luscious piece of cheese. The silvery mouse ventured closer, evading all viscous, gooey traps that surrounded her.

The mouse meditatively paused once more as she finally arrived at her prize, slowly lifting the white paper into her hands.

"What is this?" She wondered aloud, gaping at the paper with inquisitive silvery blue eyes.

Her curiosity was rewarded with yet another puzzle. Kari gazed at the images that decorated the papery canvas. The picture was a suburban scene sucked into perpetual darkness. She could barely make out the building structures.

'_Is this Sai's?_' Kari wondered mentally, struggling to discover any other prominent structures in the inky blackness. '_Why would he do this? This really isn't something you would even see in a haunted house…_'

Kari then deliberated it was one of his infamous pieces of art. What else could it be?

A sigh of confusion escaped her lips, wondering just why did he paint the scene in such a dark shade? It did not make any sense in her mind…

As another sigh rushed from her lips, the lights crackled, slowly fizzling out at the loss of life.

'…_I believe changing light bulb's a janitor's job_,' Kari reasoned in her mind. '_There's no way I'm doing something like that…_'

As she lowered her gaze from the sudden onset of darkness, her mouth dropped. The simple parchment was suddenly aglow with light, shining in the infinite sea of darkness.

Looking down at the stationary world from above, the quiet streets were small rectangles, elongating to a point her eyes could not see. Yellow streams of light emanated from the streetlight, retrieving the road from the gloom, saving it from the surrounding darkness. Windows were gently aglow with painted light, struggling to stretch farther out into the shadow's shroud. She realized she had a bird's eye view of everything, even of the rooftop of the structure closest to her.

Her silvery brow knitted together, struggling to unravel three mysteries floating in her mind.

One was because of a curious circular object that glowed atop the roof, emblazoned with an incoherent letter. What was it? An R, and A… an H? Why would he even put one there?

'_Must be one of those helicopter landing spaces of something…_'

Second, how did the picture suddenly blaze to life, lit by some mysterious outside force?

Her gaze then traveled to the tube of paint. Her fingers tentatively grasped it, escaping to a better-lit area to read the tiny label.

A smile quickly spread over her lips. "Sweet! Glow in the dark paint!"

A joyous squeal rushed out from her throat as she uncapped the bottle, retrieving a small amount for her own personal use. She glanced at the white filament curiously, slowly lifting it onto a brush and began painting her name onto her wrist.

"Strange… it even goes on clear.."

With the vial in hand, Kari trotted to hit the light switch off.

"This… is… **EPIC**!" To her jubilation, not only did the paper spring to life, her name glowed effervescently on her wrist, blazing against her milky skin.

She eagerly squeezed more paint out and decorated the rest of her arm.

She happily gazed down at her masterpiece, proclaiming in golden, neon lettering that 'Sai Sucks' and showing her standing over his defeated form. Hopefully, she would be able to scrub that paint off… or even remember to clean it before Sai sees it.

She clicked the lights on, watching the glow disappear in an instant.

She tucked the picture into her pocket, plotting to use Sai's idea for fodder for her future artwork and commenced cleaning.

//=x=\\

"Glad to see you all came!" The sophomore president greeted, pushing passed tight masses of bodies towards a new group.

"We told ya we'd be here!" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully, his arms crossed behind his spiky blonde head.

"And I'm so excited! I love haunted houses!" Kari excitedly added, her steel blue eyes glittering with avid anticipation.

"May I say its… weird to see some people in normal attire," Ino said, eyeing Kari's clothing especially.

Catching the female blonde's gaze, the Kikuchi swiftly surveyed clothes, consisting of an orange t-shirt embossed with a pumpkin, a black jacket, and dark jeans.

Ino did not offer any comments on the overall outfit or answer the confusion that fluttered over her friend's confused eyes, finding it decent enough to pass the 'Ino fashion test'. If Kari wore something else…

"Ooh! Me have a question!" Kari said once she dismissed Ino's gaze, raising her hand as if she was in class.

Joined by Kiba, Neji and he gawked at her for a few moments, nodding their head in encouragement. "I've been thinking 'bout it for awhile. So, Neji, you're the sophomore president, and Kiba, you're the freshman **vice**-president, right?"

Again, the two brown-haired males nodded their heads, unsure what direction the unpredictable female was heading towards.

"Then who the heck is the freshman president? I was wondering that all day!"

"Heh heh… uh, Kari, you'll find out soon enough. He should be around here somewhere," said the vice-president with a nervous laugh. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

Perplexed by his evasiveness, the Kikuchi did not press any further. His reluctance did, however, quell her curiosity, quash any if not all curious thoughts from flowing into her head. Only one thread of thought managed to roll into her mind.

'_How unbelievable could this person be? Surely the president couldn't be totally terrible… or is he or she?_'

She was suddenly broken from her ruminations by the sound of Naruto's loud voice, "So how do we get in the fun? That house looks intense!"

"Buy a ticket, baka. There's the stand yonder," Kiba informed, gesturing to the small table to the side.

"Awesome! Kari, go fetch those tickets down yonder!"

Affronted, Kari quickly retorted, "Me? What am I? A dog? Why do I have to get it?"

"Because I said so," Naruto insisted, pushing the reluctant silvery girl forward. "Now go forth and be a good girl and buy those tickets for us!"

Grumbling crossly under her breath, she snatched the appropriate amount of money from her friends (minus Naruto, who commiserated he forgot, casually dipping into the First Bank of Hikari) and stormed off, sticking a pink tongue at the lazy blonde.

How she hoped the haunted house terrified him... It would make her feel so much better.

Slapping the dollars onto the table, Kari irritably said, "Six tickets – five young adults and one lazy, whiskered baka!"

"Are you blind? Sign says wait a few minutes. Tickets are coming, _baka_."

Kari felt her whole body grow taut, frozen by the very sound of his voice. Could it be?

'_Please it's not him… please it's not him… please let it be __anyone__ but that teme!_' Her watery gray eyes ascended, slowly meeting a pair of cold charcoal.

A curse flew from her lips as she grumbled one name. "Uchiha Sasuke…"

Kari's poor, unfortunate luck… She hoped she could avoid the popsicle for one measly day! She realized that single fantasy won't happen anytime soon. Sasuke sat before the plastic tabletop, gazing her with those apathetic, condescending eyes she grew to loathe.

"Kikuchi, I know you're not in class, but you still should try practicing the valuable skill of _reading_."

"Hey! I can read! I just didn't see the godforsaken sign!" Kari retorted.

Sasuke followed with a lazy refute, "Of course. You can't see much if your eyes are closed. That happens more in class though, doesn't it?"

"Hey! You're not sitting there like a dork just to insult me! I won't stand for it, teme! I won't let you ruin my good mood," countered the livid girl. A soothing breath entered her lungs as she calmly asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"The freshman president needed to grab more tickets and left me to watch the stand while he's gone," replied the young Uchiha.

"Phew! That's a relief…" Seeing a flash of skepticism flicker fleetingly in his stolid eyes, Kari explained, "I was trying to figure out who's our president. I heard he was 'unbelievable' so I made a mental list of who I wouldn't believe would be our president. You were exceptionally high on that list!"

Sasuke dryly said, "Lovely. Care to entertain me with more of your asinine blubbering?"

"Maybe I will before I decide whether or not I should knock some sense into that hardheaded noggin of yours. Just who is the freshman president anyway?"

Sasuke blinked, staring in complete disbelief at the silvery female. Only silence answered her query.

Instead of availing her with a customarily succinct reply, he said, "Are you truly _that_ ignorant? How could you not know it's him?"

"Ah-hah! It's a guy, isn't it?" Kari asserted, mentally joyous that Karin was officially off the list.

His cold eyes simply gaped at her, slowly shaking his dark tendrils in complete disbelief. "Baka… are you truly that stupid? Do you not even know who is overseeing this event?"

Such a thought never even crossed her mind. Seeing the female regard the Uchiha with blatant inquisition in her pools of silvery blue, Sasuke shook his head again and refused a response, grumbling something incoherently under his breath.

Kari scowled at him, unable to dismiss that new curious thought from her mind.

Just who was the overseer?

'_And when will Sasuke give me a decent reply?! Is it that hard? Stupid teme…_'

"Well you're in luck, Kikuchi." Kari snapped out of her musings, gawking at Sasuke. With a quick grunt, Sasuke impatiently clarified, "You're going to find out who's our supervisor."

"Huh? How will I-"

"Good evening, you two."

Her body again tensed, momentarily immobilized with fear.

'_Come on, kami! If you care for me at all, please let it be someone else!_'

Her body slowly turned towards the voice.

'…_The heavens must really despise me, don't they?_'

Figuring the great gods above cursed her for some misdeed she unknowingly committed, she gazed at a familiar white-haired adult, his dark eye customarily drawn to his book.

"Kaka-sensei, _you're_ the overseer of this thing?" Kari cried in dismay. "Am I being punished? Is this some sort of cruel joke?"

"It's a pleasure to hear you're so happy to see me," Kakashi said sardonically. "But, yes. I am the overseer of this event, and this is not a joke or a punishment."

Kari nodded her head in acceptance, mentally thinking otherwise. "So, just how scary is that house over there? I hope it's any good!"

"I think you will be scared out of your wits… especially if _he_ comes," Kakashi casually replied with a languid turn of a page.

Kari agreed wholeheartedly, "Oh yeah! I know what you mean. Uchiha's face could even scare the socks off little children! My eyes feel as if they're bleeding just being near him!"

As the stoical Uchiha's cold eyes went ablaze with rage, ready to verbally attack the impenitent female, Kakashi swiftly corrected her, "No, Hi-chan. I am not talking about Uchiha Sasuke. You are far scarier anyway."

Kari's cheeks ballooned in irritation, glaring at Sasuke as a satisfied, condescending grin spread over his mouth.

Kakashi then added, "I was actually speaking of Aoto Koroi."

"Who's he?" was the automatic inquiry, resonating from a dark-haired male.

"Yeah! What's so special about the dude?" Kari asked in an unnecessarily loud voice, curiosity glimmering over her silvery blue eyes.

"…Let me tell you two a story while you wait." The white-haired adult shut his book to a close, sticking it in his back pocket. "It's not very long, but it's better than letting you two duke it out the whole time you wait."

"YAY! Story time! Story time!" Kari cheered with an enraptured smile, jumping wildly at the thought.

"Shut up, Kikuchi!" cried an annoyed Uchiha. An angry nerve exploded from his temple as the silver female settled herself atop the table, sitting directly in front of him. "Loser…"

Dismissing Kari's hyper outburst and the murderous intent gleaming in Sasuke's eyes, Kakashi began his tale, "Long time ago, before you two were even in this school, when I was starting out here as a teacher, there once was this old janitor named Aoto Kuroi. He had to be the most uptight guy I've ever seen. Worst sense of humor ever! He just could not take a joke. Whenever I tried cracking one, he would just give me this weird look and glare at me."

"Well yeah, uncle. You're the only one who thinks your jokes are actually funny," Kari stated in a matter-of-factly tone. Kakashi did not utter another word, sending a silent reprimand with his one visible eye. "Jeez! Sorry to burst your bubble like that. You can keep going with your story. I won't say a peep."

Even though his expression was dubious, he carried on with the tale, "Anyways, before I was so rudely interrupted, Aoto-san was incredibly uptight and hated jokes of all sorts. Whenever the kids played a joke on him, he would become so outraged, retaliating with a bucket of cold dirty, water or whacking them with the mop."

"Jeez, that should be illegal! Not to mention that's gross on so many levels! Mop whacks to the face are not fun or getting soaked with a bucket of water."

"Kari…" Kakashi growled with feigned patience, his eye radiating with growing malice.

"Okay, fine! Sorry. Keep going."

"Personally, I always knew he was a few screws loose. I simply supposed it was a natural result when a person works in this school for so long."

"I knew this school was one leading cause to insanity!"

Sasuke snapped at her, "Will you just shut your trap and listen to the story?!"

"Why don't you shut your own trap, Uchiha?" Kari retorted with equal ferocity.

"Hikari!" Kakashi chastised firmly, his gaze hard.

That single word – a simple enunciation of her name – was enough to make Kari quiet down. Her lips were tightly pressed into a nervous line, afraid yet another peep would incite a long, irritated reprimand. Kakashi looked as if he was ready to gobble her up and chew her right out.

Seeing Hikari was going to keep her mouth shut for at least another moment, Kakashi resumed, "He especially hated Halloween. Every year some stupid punk would prank him, and Aoto-san could barely stand it. Then it happened. Aoto-san was taking down some heavy lights after some Halloween event when some kids came out of nowhere and egged him."

"Jeez, that's mean…" Kari mumbled quietly, hoping he would allow her that much. Seeing him sneer at her, Kari whined, "Oh my god! I can't even do that much? Who's the uptight one now?"

After a heated glare, Kari released a low groan, promising that she will remain completely silent and won't utter another word until he finished.

Kakashi honestly did not believe her, but continued. "Yes, their behavior was rather deplorable, and Aoto-san certainly thought so. That was when he totally cracked. Shooting a wild flurry of curses, Aoto-san charged at them, smacking them with his mop harder than ever. As he drove the kids away, he accidentally slipped over the yolk. The mop flew up into the lights, causing the entire light system to fall. It landed right on top of him, crushing his head. When the police came and cleaned up the scene, they found Aoto Kuroi's crushed skull, no longer connected to his body. Now every Halloween night, Aoto Kuroi haunts these very halls, seeking vengeance on the kids that he believed killed him."

Kakashi paused, observing the two teenager's reaction. His gaze then rested on his silver-haired niece, her teeth gripping her bottom lip. A sigh escaped his masked lips, gesturing for her to speak.

With a relieved exhale, she said, "Thank you! I just wanted to say that ghost story… had to be the worst tale you ever made up!"

Kakashi blinked several times, not expecting such a remark. He confusedly said, "Made… up?"

"Yeah! I'm not that stupid. I mean, you're an English teacher for god's sakes. You could think of something better than that," said Kari.

"I don't quite follow you, Hi-chan. That story is honestly true," Kakashi insisted, confusion flowing into his eyes.

Kari snorted. "Yeah right… Nice try. If you want to get payback for last year, you have to try harder than that!"

Kakashi released a tired sigh, grumbling something incoherently under his breath. The indifferent Uchiha did not utter a word, regarding Kari with a hint of curiosity in his own dark eyes. '_Payback_?'

Just before Sasuke could even think of asking just what she meant, Kari interjected an inquiry, "So, uh, Sasuke told me that he's waiting for the freshman president to bring the tickets… maybe you could tell just _who_ that guy is? So I could, you know, spot him and quickly retrieve my tickets and all that."

Again, poor Kari was deprived of a clear response, answered with only a low chuckle. "Seriously? You don't know? I was sure he told you. You do see him often…"

"Oh god. So it _is_ someone I see daily?" Kari said with evident fear in her voice, her visage blanched. "If you say it's Naruto, I think I'll lose it."

Kakashi sputtered, roaring into a hardy laughter. He leaned against the table for much needed support, wrapping one of his arms around his stomach.

Kari pouted, "Jeez, Uncle Kakashi. A simple no would have sufficed. I knew it was ridiculous, but I didn't know it was _that_ unheard of."

"Hell yeah it is," Sasuke replied as their sensei struggled to placate his hilarity. "If that dobe was president of our class, I'd much rather be dead."

"Ah-hah! Thank you! Because you said that, now I have evidence that proved you're an angsty emo kid!"

Sasuke failed to retort, his glare speaking more than simple words possible could. Kari stood her ground, returning with nothing more than an adamant, impenitent expression on her face.

Kakashi finally spoke, "Well you're in luck. I think you'll find out just who the president is."

"Finally!" Kari cheered, turning her silvery blue eyes away from Sasuke's still aggravated orbs. "So where is he?"

"Where is who?"

Strangely enough, the voice did not induce a state of paralysis. Her body froze on its own accord. She just did not want to turn and find out who the president was.

'_Do I really want to know?_'

Did she wish to continue blissful ignorance or did she want to quench her insatiable curiosity?

Curiosity won.

Her body slowly turned, facing the new figure. A groan rushed from her lips, wondering just how foul her luck was.

"Please tell me I'm seeing things, Sai! Tell me you're just a figment of my imagination!" Kari pleaded, clasping her hands together.

"Sure. You're seeing things, Hi-chan, and I'm just a figment of your imagination," Sai sarcastically recited, plopping a roll of fresh tickets onto the table. "I suppose someone of your capricious mentality certainly must have all sorts of crazy delusions on the daily basis."

"No I don't!" protested an affronted female.

"Oh? If you aren't delusional, you wouldn't feel this." Sai pricked her forehead, leaving behind a scathing red mark on her pale face.

"Ow! I'm not making that up because I saw you flick me!"

"Oh? Do you have any proof?"

"That's just stupid, Sai. Of course I have proof. Kaka-sensei…"

"Huh?" Kakashi lifted his gaze from his novel, seeming unaware of the events that had just transpired. "Did I miss something?"

"…Okay. He was a bad source to begin with. I know Uchiha over there…"

"No," Sasuke said without any embellishment, his veneer unmoving, stolid.

Kari spat out, "Don't you lie, teme! I know you definitely saw that!"

"Maybe. Maybe not. What do I know? I'm just some emo boy with a face that terrifies small children."

The silver-haired girl scowled, her torrential orbs glaring at the Uchiha. Seeing he refused to offer any support to her assertion, she grunted, moving on to another subject. "So, uh, Sai, could you please tell that Kakashi is completely delusional and that you're not the freshman president?"

"Why would I encourage such a mendacity?" Sai said. "I thought I told you I was the president of our class some time ago."

Kari groaned, mentally crying over such a thought.

Of all people, they had elected Sai. Why him? Knowing he held such a high position terrified her.

'_I thought having an idiot in charge would be much worse… A mini__sadist like him is far more horrifying._'

"…I never knew my presidency appalled you, Hi-chan," Sai noted glibly.

"I'm just mortified that they allowed you to become president…" she mumbled quietly under her breath.

"What was that, Hi-chan? I didn't quite catch that."

"Ah nothing!" The silvery female quickly sidestepped that topic and placed her money on the table. "Can I have my tickets now? I'm tired of listening to Uchiha's blubbering and Kaka-sensei's stupid story!"

"Oh really? What story did he tell you?" Sai asked curiously, counting the dollars and ripping the appropriate amount of tickets.

"About some dead, headless janitor dude. Aoto K – something or other," Kari explained, taking the tickets.

"Aoto Kuroi?"

"Oh my god. Don't tell me he told that stupid ghost story too!"

"Kari, there's a lot of silly things in this world. You _personify_ silly," the dark-haired president informed, ignoring the irritated pout that spread over her face. "Aoto Kuroi is certainly _not_ silly."

"Come on. You're not in that joke too?" Kari groaned. "Okay, you guys can continue with that ghost business if you want. Whatever. I'm just saying you could have thought of a better form of revenge, Kakashi. _Way_ better."

With a roll of his obsidian eyes, Sai pointedly glanced over to Kakashi, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response.

A small burst of laughter exploded from her lips as she watched their behavior. Sasuke did not display any emotion, quickly fleeing the scene after he saw that his job was done.

"You go on, Hi-chan. Enjoy the haunted house," Kakashi said, shooing her off with a languid flourish of his free hand.

Kari cheerily nodded her head, frolicking off back to her friends.

'_Silly Kaka-chan… I seriously hope he thought of something better__than a ghost story!_'

A consistent hum flowed through her mouth, chanting, "I'm going to a haunted house! I'm going to a haunted house!"

"Yo, Kikuchi."

Kari immediately asked without a single passing glance, "What is it, Uchiha? I can only take so much of your presence or else I lose it!"

"Much too late for that…" Sasuke grumbled under his breath before articulating in a more coherent tone, "Just wanted to ask what you meant by payback when you were talking to Kakashi-sensei."

At first lost by his words, Kari took a few long moments to figure out what he was talking about. Realization then dawned over her. "Oh! Halloween payback! Trust me, Uchiha. This comes with a really good story." She cleared her throat. "Last year for Halloween, I wanted to play a little prank of that bookworm uncle of mine because he refused to buy some candy. He complained that no one came to his house anyway, and it only wasted money. Come on! He could have given it to me at least… I like candy."

"Go figure."

"I was stumped for ideas… until I saw Kakashi's book by our hearth."

"What did you do? Read it?"

"God no! I'm not some pervert. I like being able to see," Kari countered. "Actually seeing the book he loved so much there gave me this fabulous idea! I got an old notebook that was similar to Kakashi's book and decorated it a little to make it seem more like it. Then on Halloween night, Kakashi asked me where his book was because he couldn't find it. I was nice and decided to help look for it. I then grabbed the fake one and told him that I found it. I was about to give it to him, then whoopsy daisies! I tripped, and the notebook fell into the fire."

"How'd he react?"

"It. Was. Priceless! Kakashi totally flipped out! He sprinted towards the fire and almost burnt his hands trying to save it. After awhile of letting him suffer, I burst out laughing. I explained everything and gave him the real one. God, he was so mad! Totally worth it though. He then started yelling at me, _blah blah blah_, and vowed vengeance next Halloween. Heh. It's funny, but I can't believe that stupid story was his payback. Ghost stories don't even really scare me that much!"

"Uh-huh."

"But the problem is my uncle is not that lame. He should be able to make a decent story. He's an English teacher for god's sakes…"

"I don't care…"

Kari cried, "Why the hell do you ask if you don't care?"

"Fleeting curiosity. Nothing more. It just turns out your explanation was even stupider than I originally expected it to be."

"That was not stupid!" Kari refuted defensively. "That was…"

"Totally priceless!" Kari jumped at the abrupt interjection. Both figures turned their head towards the source of the outburst.

"Dobe, do you have to butt into every conversation you hear? You weren't included in this in anyway," Sasuke said as his greeting, languidly staring at the blonde.

Naruto ignored Sasuke's remark entirely, saying to his silvery friend, "But I can't believe you did that! I wish I was there to see it! Sweet!"

Kari grinned from ear to ear, proud over the very memory.

"Ooh! Hey there, Sasuke!" Sakura greeted, rushing over to him with an equally excited Yamanaka tailing right behind her.

"I didn't know you were coming here too!" Ino said.

"Hn. Didn't have much of a choice. Sai and Kakashi-sensei made me volunteer and help set stuff up," admitted Sasuke, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets.

"You know, uh, we're going inside right now. Maybe you could come with us!" Sakura offered, hope glimmering brightly in her forest green eyes.

The Uchiha replied with a frank, "No."

The Haruno's spirit plummeted, distressed over such a swift and thoughtless rejection.

"Why not? Is the big, bad Uchiha afwaid of a wittle house?" Kari mocked.

"Of course not!" Sasuke growled vehemently. "I just rather not waste my time on something so stupid."

"Chicken!" Kari exclaimed, flapping her arms and making clucking noises. "_Cluk. Cluk._ Sasuke's a chicken! _Cluk. Cluk!_"

Ino immediately leapt to the defense. "Stop it, Kari! Sasuke-kun is no chicken!"

Kari ceased her bird-like actions and said, "Then why not he prove it then?"

"Yeah! If you're no chicken, then join us when we go into the haunted house, teme!" Naruto proposed in a raucous tone, pointing his finger at him.

The Uchiha merely stood his ground, reflecting over the challenge. He scanned over each face, ranging from hopeful anticipation to insolent condescension.

With a sharp exhale of breath, Sasuke said, "Hn. Fine. If that will make you two shut up and stop calling me that then I'll do it."

"Great, but Uchiha, have you seen your hair? It is the perfect representation of a chicken's ass!"

Sasuke responded with nothing more than an angry leer, frozen expanses of black ink boring into a bright, jubilant sea of silver aqua.

"Yay! I'm so happy you can come with us!" Sakura rejoiced, loping her thin arm around his.

Sasuke nearly jumped in surprise, gawking as Ino quickly latched onto his other arm. "Come on, Sasuke!" Ino said excitedly. "We better get inside!"

Before he could even think of shirking the two fan girls off, fight to regain his personal bubble from the two female invaders, the two girls dashed forward, dragging him inside.

He did have enough time to sneer at a certain girl, indignation brimming over his dark eyes like a conduit of malice and acrimony.

Kari merely laughed at his situation, following right behind a jealous Uzumaki.

Her heart pounded excitedly against her chest as they stepped through the threshold. Artificial lightning flashed followed by a musical cymbal of thunder. Horrified screams added to the soundtrack, roaring in her pale ears.

'_Yep, this definitely looks promising,_' Kari deliberated, diving deeper into the inky abyss.

* * *

Oh my god! Is this a bird, a plane... an actual update?! *gasp*

Hey, I know it's been awhile, but I finally got it out! :]

Thank you for your patience and for reading this story~


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Entering - Fear**

The haunted house lay ominously in the corridors of Konoha High, its contents obscured by a veil of inky darkness. Thunder crackled in unpredictable intervals, sounding in unison to bloody screams.

Finally, there was a moment of illumination - a fleeting flicker of artificial lightning shone over the exit of the ominous house. This single flash extricated two creatures from the dark depths. As they straggled there way outside, it appeared to be two female zombies. Their complexions were blanched, washed out in the fluorescence above them. Their once bright locks were a bleached, pale white. Even their eyes seemed dull and dead, their irises quavering in the sea of white sclera.

These two women of the undead held onto their prisoner with unfathomable strength, squeezing his arms until there was no longer blood flowing into them.

"Sakura, Ino? Can you please let me go? We're out now," said Sasuke, his voice a deceptive calm. The two zombified females seemed to have not heard him, only grasping his arms tighter.

His dark brow twitched as he regarded the two girls with evident annoyance. How had the Uchiha gotten himself into such a situation as this? Normally he would have made sure he avoided such a painful, aggravating thing.

His obsidian eyes only seemed to darken, evoking a single name – the one who was responsible for this torment.

"God, that was freaky!" Sasuke was abruptly snapped out his irritated mindset, turning to see Ten Ten emerge from the shadows with a traumatized Hinata clinging onto her shirt for dear life.

"You've got to be joking, Ten Ten!" Ino said harshly, color returning to her cheeks, as well as her voice. It rang stridently in Sasuke's ears, making him almost wish she had remained in her undead state.

Sakura also seemed to regain the ability to speak, talking in a much softer tone. "That was terrifying! I feel my goose bumps have goose bumps!"

'_Hn... What a joke..._' By no means was the Uchiha frightened. Not by the very least. In fact, the only thing that terrified him was how badly it was constructed and how chicken his contemporaries were. It would have been laughable if it was not seem so pathetic.

"H... Hey. Where's N... Naruto-kun a... and Kari-chan?" Hinata inquired, easing away from her brown-haired companion.

Sasuke languidly felt his gaze ascend. He blinked in surprise to see that the blonde boy and silver-haired girl were nowhere in sight.

"Y... You don't think those two a...are still in there?"

A snort resonated from the floral Haruno. "Cha, I hope they got lost. Those two idiots are probably having the times of their lives in there. I bet Naruto is going to jump out any moment now and scare us, that stupid baka."

The general population nodded their heads in agreement. Even Sasuke bobbed his head, more so agreeing over the detail concerning Naruto's idiocy. Everyone's gaze traveled towards the dark entryway, its shadows thick and impervious to any outside illumination.

Finally, the silence was disrupted by a loud shriek of terror. It was high-pitched, blood curdling, chilling everyone's bones.

Everyone was suddenly besieged with disturbed curiosity.

Just who was it?

Was it another unlucky person? The recording of screams from the haunted house? Or… was it one of their good friends? If so, which one?

"Five bucks the one that's screaming their head off is Kari-chan, Sakura!" Ino said, inadvertently yelling into the Uchiha's ear. "She's probably scared out of her mind right now!"

Sakura's voice came out with less strength, only able to mumble, "Okay, you're on."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the bet. To Sasuke, it was obvious who'd win. He already formed a pretty good who it was...

Suddenly the sound of footsteps echoed in the stillness, slowly getting louder and louder... Until finally a figure emerged.

"Ah! Someone save me!" A blur of gold sprinted out of the house's exit, moving in a speed Sasuke thought was inhuman. This figure ducked behind Ten Ten and Hinata, squatting down into a fetal position. It quavered violently, all the while holding a very curious object in its hands.

Sakura was the first to respond. Her one arm shot up into the air as she cheered. "Yes! You owe me five bucks, Ino pig!"

Ino bitterly nodded her head, glaring at how cowardly the blonde was. If he was in her position, Sasuke supposed he would be upset as well. He'd certainty be mad that he had lost money. Then again, the Uchiha was not the type to partake in such things unless he was guaranteed to win.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

Naruto tried to open his mouth to provide a response. There was only the sound of chattering teeth as he pointed towards the doorway with his one hand. "M...mo... monster!" Naruto finally chattered fearfully.

"Dobe, you're such a chicken," Sasuke said with absolutely no embellishment. "There's no such things as monsters, and there are definitely aren't any in there."

"B... But I swear! I swear I saw it! It was this bloodthirsty beast with such a hideous face!"

Naruto commenced describing such a foul creature. It had large, pupilless, black eyes. Deep wrinkles creased all across its pasty skin. Large tusk-like fangs protruded from its gnarled lower lips, dripping with blood.

"**It's just a stupid haunted house, loser.** It's just some guy dressed in a costume," said Sasuke, his eyes cold and indifferent.

Naruto snorted loudly, insisting that he knew what he saw and was sure it was real.

Sakura's green orbs whirled in a dramatic circle and asked a curious question. "Naruto, where's Hikari?"

"And why are you holding a shoe?" Ino asked, her blue eyes brimming with curiosity.

Blinking, his own oceanic orbs descended down, scrutinizing the curious item in his hand. Everyone else's gaze followed suit, unable to comprehend where such an item originated. Realization slowly dawned over everyone's face, draining Naruto's countenance of all color.

"Oh my god! I just lost Kari-chan to the hideous monster!" Naruto wailed in despair.

"It's not a real monster, dobe!"

"Wah! Kari-chan! What am I going to do? Kakashi-sensei is going to kill me he hears his niece was eaten by some creature..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. The dark-haired Hyuuga knelt down to the blonde's level and assured him, "Kari is just fine. She'll come out any moment now. I'm sure of it."

Sniffling, the dismal Uzumaki nodded his head. Again, everyone's heads turned towards the mouth of the haunted house, waiting for any signs of Kari. There was only pure silence. Sasuke's arms started to tingle, draining of blood due to his female constraints.

A figure finally emerged from the house's depths. Unfortunately, it did not seem like the silvery female they were waiting for.

A horrible monstrosity reared its ugly face from the darkness, growling in raspy, guttural bursts.

"That's the monster!" Naruto exclaimed, his face an ashen white. Hysteria besieged Sasuke's contemporaries, causing them to scream in fear. Hinata and Naruto unwittingly grabbed onto each other while Ten Ten froze in her place. Ino and Sakura released Sasuke's arms and clung onto his waist.

"Ino, Sakura, can't... breathe!" rasped the Uchiha, struggling to liberate himself from their hold.

The creature then paused reflectively, gazing over each face with a crazed look in its beady, black eyes. This moment had allowed the Uchiha the perfect opportunity to examine the creature's entire being. He then rolled his eyes.

He certainly was not frightened. '_How in the world could anyone be when a monster was wearing a pumpkin on its shirt?_'

Sasuke languidly watched as the creature began to shake, quaver in pure amusement.

He nearly groaned when the creature burst into laughter.

"You guys are so gullible! I can't believe you fell for that!" a muffled version of a certain female's voice said in the midst of her hilarity. Confusion swept over many of their faces, gaping at the monster as it slid its face off its own head and release a flowing cascade of white silver

"Kari, that was not funny!" Ino cried vehemently, her blue eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Of course not. It certainly wouldn't be funny, unless you guys are standing where I am! Then it's hilarious!" Kari said blithely, unrepentant over her prank. All her contemporaries glared at her, irritated over that cruel joke. Oblivious to the amalgamating sensation of a rather homicidal aura, Kari added, "Jeez… you guys are so funny I can't even believe you all fell for that."

Kari giggled as she mocked their fear, inciting rather heated glares, all intent on combusting the girl in an angry burst of fire.

Finally one of them spoke.

"Kikuchi, where the hell did you get such a hideous thing?" Sasuke inquired, somehow slipping his torso free from his human constraints.

With her sweetest smile, Kari replied with none of her usual insolence, "Easy! It was a mask from one of those 'monsters' back at the house! I ripped it right off his head when it tried to scare me! One of the ugliest prizes I've ever received if I do say so myself... I just wish I was able to take the zombie mask. Now _that_ was what you'd call ugly!"

At the very mention of those two creatures, Sasuke noticed his friends shiver, still shaken by their frightful encounters.

"But why did you put it on?"

Without a moment's hesitation, the raven-haired male watched as Kari turned he gaze towards the blonde male. "It's all that baka's fault."

Immediately affronted, Naruto gasped. "Me? Just what did I do?"

"What did you do? Naruto, you were hanging onto my leg the whole entire time we were there!" Kari elucidated blandly. "I can't even understand how I was able to walk with you weighing me down. No matter what I did – shake you, scream at you to let go – you refused to budge. The last thing I thought of that could possibly get you off of me," – Kari showed the monster mask in the Uzumaki's direction, causing a fearful shiver to run down his spine and unconsciously hug Hinata for dear life – "Is with this ugly baby! I think it worked, didn't it?"

Kari burst into another round of fitful laughter, amazed at Naruto's speed as he sprinted out of the house. It was definitely worth it… even though it meant sacrificing her shoe. An angry scowl contorted his lips as Naruto released the reddened Hinata from his grip, angrily tossing the shoe at the silver-haired girl.

"Hey, there's no need for such violence," said Kari, placing her thrown shoe back onto her foot. "Besides I needed a good laugh after enduring that pathetic house."

Sakura merely fluttered her pink lashes, regarding the silver-haired female as if she was some sort of unidentified creature from a distant planet. "Kari… you weren't scared?"

Kari snorted. "You're kidding me, right? That was nothing!" Soon a blonde Yamanaka appeared by her side, promptly smacking her forehead with her palm. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

Ino replied, "Just trying to stimulate what little brain cells you seem to have."

"Huh?"

"Come on, Kari-chan! You didn't seriously think the house was not even the tiniest bit scary!" Sakura cried in disbelief.

Kari insisted, "I've seen scarier things than that stupid house. It's stuff you'd see in a poorly produced horror flick."

The Uchiha felt his head nod in agreement "When we stumbled onto the bathroom, the blood was the fakest thing I've ever seen."

"It looked like some really thick tomato soup!" Kari agreed in outrage. "Don't get me started on the fake body they put there. Immersing some of its head in water was tolerable, but a knife in their back and head? You've got to be kidding me!"

"How about when Naruto looked at his reflection in the mirror? That was so stupid…"

"I know! Naruto's face is scary enough. They didn't need to add some monster projection in the reflection as well."

"Hey! Stop talking about me like I'm not here! Just so you guys know that was a very convincing illusion! Anyone could have been fooled," huffed Naruto, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. "I think it's far scarier to hear you two actually getting along for once…"

Hearing such a strange statement, Sasuke casted a glance over to Kari, her blue gray eyes already staring at him inquisitively. They held each other's gazes for a singular moment before tearing away.

"We were not agreeing!" Kari said defiantly.

"I was just offering better facts than she was," Sasuke stated finitely.

The silver-haired girl scoffed. "Ha! It was not better! My observations were far superior!"

"You're kidding me, right? I think we are all lucky if you manage to pay attention to something for even a single moment."

Moments before Kari could whirl into a heated argument, Naruto spoke up, "Okay! So maybe Kari-chan isn't scared of the haunted house, but Kari-chan isn't totally fearless!"

"Says who? I'm not scared of anything, especially anything inside that house."

Kari almost jumped, startled when Sasuke released a low burst. It was strangled, yet amused at the same time. She found herself shocked to realize Sasuke had released a breath of laughter.

"Hey, Uchiha, what's the big idea?" The petite female inquired, placing her hands on her hips. "What's so funny? Do I amuse you?"

Nursing his expression back to its usual impassivity, Sasuke supplied tersely, "Simple. It's because you said you're not scared of anything."

"Yeah! Sasuke's right! You're scared of something, and I vow to find out just what that is!" Naruto shouted, his brilliant blue eyes burning with determined resolve.

A pair of silvery blue eyes whirled in a perfect circle. "Tch. Like you can. Seriously, I'm not scared of anything."

A mischievous grin spread over Naruto's countenance, his eyes alight now with mischief. "Oh yeah? Well I bet you're afraid of…" Out of nowhere, the Uzumaki tossed a barrage of bug-like objects at her unsuspecting form. "Bugs and spiders!"

Kari remained perfectly still, staring blankly first at the enormous plastic beetle atop her head then at the blonde.

"Don't have insectophobia or arachnophobia, eh?" The Uzumaki considered her reaction, calculating his next course of action. He turned around for a single moment then whipped back towards her, flinging a frightening boa around her neck, its fangs poised at her ear. "How about ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes!"

Kari stared the plastic snake down before returning her attention back to the expectant blonde. He grunted in disappointment, turning his attention back to his repertoire of tricks.

"Not even afraid of that, eh? How about... This!" Naruto soon appeared before her with an array of seemingly lethal knives, all pointing straight into her face.

She timidly retrogressed, yelling in a nervous voice, "Hey! Get those out of my face!"

"Ah-hah!" Naruto said triumphantly, pointing at her with knife. "You have aichmophobia, a fear of sharp objects!"

"Huh? N...no! Of course not!" Kari insisted. "You just could poke my eye out! Seriously, anyone would be frightened to know you're holding any dangerously sharp objects. You want to kill me or something?"

The girl saw a deep chagrin form at his lips as Naruto receded with the knives, moaning in disappointment. Kari sighed in relief.

"Naruto, where'd you even get all that stuff?" Ten Ten asked curiously, taking and the beetle off from Kari's person.

"I can answer that." Kari gasped in recognition, ducking behind Ten Ten to prepare herself.

The rest of crew had glanced over to see Sai standing beside the blonde Uzumaki, his face molded into its customary, phony grin.

"All the stuff Naruto threw at Kari were items from the theatre department. We borrowed many of their props to create the house," Sai informed the general congregation, turning his attention to the blonde. "If any of that stuff is damaged, you will have pay for every single one of them in full! Got that, Naruto-san?"

Naruto widened his eyes in fear and furiously nodded his head, hurrying to clean up everything and return it where he found it.

"Speaking of the devil, where is that crazy girl?" Sai wondered aloud, scanning each figure for one with silvery, white hair. Suddenly there was a loud roar. The Kikuchi leapt out of nowhere, garbed in the hideous monster mask. Sai barely batted an eye as Kari growled and snarled. "Hi-chan, may I ask why you're wearing one of our haunted house masks?"

She merely wilted at the failed attempt, lifting the mask slightly over her face. The silver-haired female whined, "Aw, come on, Sai! You're no fun. You weren't scared at all!"

"Well, what can I say? The mask was a vast improvement to your normal face." Sai almost laughed as he saw an offended pout contort her lips. "You fail to answer my question though. Why do you have that mask?"

"Gift from the monster himself," Kari said with a proud smile, lifting it completely off her head. "How did you even know that this was from the haunted house?"

"Simple. It's either wear that beauty or be the zombie. I chose the latter."

The Kikuchi gasped in realization. "Oh my god! You're ugly number two?"

Sai slowly nodded his head, his eyes darkening in irritation over the reminder. "If that's what you want to call it. I had to say I appreciate you trying to pull my head off." Kari flushed in embarrassment, nervously scratching her head at the memory. "By the looks of it, you didn't seem all to thrilled with it."

"Worst. House. _Ever._" Kari moaned. "I thought I was going to die from boredom!"

The dark-haired artist could only nod his head in agreement. "Yes… at least I wasn't the only one who thought it was awful. It was like walking through a poorly made reproduction of _Saw_…"

Kari shot her arms in the air, ecstatic she wasn't alone in her thinking. Her friends only regarded the two with palpable incredulity, wondering that if such insanity was contagious.

"Um, I thought you were planning the house though, Sai-san? Why did you think poorly of it?" Sakura questioned.

His face was clean of all emotion as he replied dryly, "I actually had another plan for the Haunted House. It was so much better than what we had now… but Kakashi overruled it. He thought it was far too scary for people here."

"He's a chicken!" Kari whined while many of her friends shivered at the thought. They could not imagine anything more frightening than what was in there already!

"I am no such thing, Kari." The Kikuchi jumped to see her uncle looming right over her, his nose in a book – as always. "We couldn't afford to do the stuff Sai wanted anyway."

Kari merely sighed in disappointment. "But it was so lame..."

"I doubt everyone thought the same way." His one visible eye gazed over his students, seeing that many of them were still shaken by the house. "Well, shall we get going? You guys were the last ones to go in there, and we're closing up now." Everyone nodded their heads, following their sensei out the door.

/=x=\\

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said in a loud voice as they finally walked outside. "Is it okay if I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Naruto. What is it?" Kakashi asked, glancing over to the blonde.

"What's Kari scared of? She keeps saying she's totally fearless and stuff, but we all know she's afraid of something!"

"Shut up!" Kari shouted, punching the blonde squarely in the head. "You're annoying voice and incessant questions are giving me a headache."

"Ow... That hurt!" Naruto moaned, massaging his sore cranium.

"You'd like to know Hikari's greatest fear?" Kakashi repeated skeptically. "Sorry, but that info's confidential. Kari would be upset if told you."

Naruto immediately perked up. "Why? Is she afraid of something stupid? Ooh! I bet she has ailurophobia, a fear of cats!"

"The only one I think I'd be afraid of is a whiskered blonde knucklehead named Naruto!" Kari heatedly exclaimed, resisting the growing urge to punch Naruto yet again.

"And she has full rights to be. If I had to diagnose her for a phobia, it would be understandable if she had autodysomophobia, with you around and all," Sai stated eloquently.

"Autodizzymo... Huh?" Naruto and Kari attempted to repeat confusedly.

Sai then elucidated, "Autodysomophobia. It is fear of one that has a vile odor."

Kari snorted in laughter, chuckling into her hands. Naruto's confusion only sky rocketed, staring at the two with wide blue eyes. "Sai, what are ya saying? I don't get it."

"Oh, Naruto! It's best you didn't understand," Kari said with a comforting slap to his back.

Sai then halted in his place, realization flooding into his eyes. "Oh! It seems I forgot my jacket back inside. Is it alright if we go back a moment to get it, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi considered his request for a singular moment before nodding his head. "I don't see why not. I have the keys anyway, and it shouldn't take very long. Do you all mind?"

Everyone shook their heads and stumbled back inside the school. Kakashi flicked the lights on, watching it permeate all throughout the darkness.

"You know, it's rather creepy being here at night," noted Ten Ten aloud. "It's so quiet."

Kari merely observed her surroundings with impassive eyes, before a new thought rolled into her mind. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, so it's already so late. When is this 'headless janitor' going to make its grand appearance? I haven't seen him all night! Maybe he could make this night more interesting."

"Don't know, Hi-chan. Possibly soon. After all the night is young. You just need to be patient," replied Kakashi.

The silvery haired female merely scoffed. "Come on, Kakashi! How long are you going to keep it up? Obviously he's not coming because you made him up!"

She huffed in irritation to see she was ignored, her white-haired guardian merely turning his attention to Sai. Sai then said, "I believe I left it back inside the house."

Their teacher nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Now you guys stay here while Sai and I retrieve it. I doubt it would take very long. Can you all handle that?"

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," they all droned in response.

As the two figures started to walk away, Kari then cried, "Be careful, guys! I hope the headless janitor doesn't get you!" Kakashi failed to respond, both of their silhouettes disappearing in the distance. With a smug grin on her lips, she turned her attention back towards her friends.

"Kari-chan! Are you crazy?" cried Naruto, grasping her small shoulders and shaking her violently. "Do you really want that zombie to come after us or Sai and Kaka-sensei? It would probably feast upon our brains or something!"

She held onto his arms to steady herself. Seeing that was entirely fruitless and Naruto too strong, she shouted, "Stop shaking me, baka!" He then froze, his ultramarine orbs scrutinizing her curiously.

"Thank you," she huffed, pushing him away from her. "You've got to be kidding me. You didn't actually believe in that silly mumbo jumbo, did you?" The blonde remained completely silent, refusing to respond. Kari almost felt herself whirl into hysterical laughter. "Naruto, it's just Kakashi's stupid attempt to scare us. There is no such thing as an 'undead janitor'."

'_And there's no way I'm going to let him scare me…_' The silver-haired Kikuchi remained fairly alert, awaiting for something, anything, to happen. She just wished she had a better idea of what.

Little did she know just how terrifying the night was going to be. There was something far more gruesome, more horrifying than she could possibly imagine, hiding in the shadows of her institution.

\\ =x=/

A camera stood off in a hidden corner of the high school. It was a tiny, unimposing thing. No one would even have noticed it was there.

"_**Bleeeaahh!**_" one said, sticking a pink tongue out at the camera. He squished his cheeks together and upturned his nose, all the while making noises too loud or annoying to ignore.

"Loser, what are you doing?" asked Sasuke, his obsidian orbs staring at the blonde.

Naruto turned around, his cheeks now stretched to an incredible length and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"I'm bored!" He answered, reverting his face back to its normal state. "Sai and Kaka-sensei have been gone forever!"

"Just stop making faces! We don't want your weirdness being captured on film," chided Sakura, her hands placed on her small hips. Naruto pouted in submission, lethargically resting his back against the wall.

The small group did agree with him on one point – Kakashi and Sai were gone for a long time.

Kari merely emitted a small, annoyed grunt. She still held fast to her original notion that Kakashi was planning on pulling something on her, but none of her friends (or Sasuke) seemed to believe that Kakashi could be that devious. Then again, no one knew him at the extent she did. He was capable of so much…

A shrill cry sliced through the silent air, retrieving all their attentions. A sense of apprehension besieged the general congregation.

"That… that sounded… like Kakashi-sensei and Sai-san," mumbled Hinata, her lavender orbs wide with fear.

Kari shouted, "Oh. Smooth, Kakashi! That's not going to freak us out!"

"Kari…"

The light above them suddenly began flickering wildly, blinding them with a miasma of white illumination before swallowing everything in darkness.

"Ooh, I'm so scared! The light are off now," said Kari in mock horror. "What a joke. Can you guys hit the lights?"

With an irritated grunt, Sasuke answered, "What do you think I've been trying to do?"

Shooting a leer at his general direction, the Kikuchi satirically cried, "Oh no! We are stuck in the dark. I am so scared. Whatever shall we do now?"

"What's the matter, Hikari? Afraid of the dark?" A blonde phantom floated into her line of vision, his pale face illumined with white light. A pain soon perforated through his cranium as the silvery girl snatched from his hands.

"Cut it out, baka!" she chastised him, beginning to walk deeper in the hallway.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Finding another light switch."

"Ooh! It's just all those horror flicks. The stupid one goes out by themselves and then is confronted with the monster!"

"Then why don't you guys come with me so I don't look stupid?"

"Or we can be smart and just get out of here now. The door is right behind us," Ino suggested.

With a quick push, Sasuke cursed under his breath and curtly said, "Can't. Doors locked."

The group slowly absorbed that bit of information, heads rotating towards Kari's light, watching it wane in the surrounding shadows.

Naruto yelled, "Hey, Kari-chan! Wait up!"

The rest of the gang ran right towards her, guided by the long stream of artificial light.

By no means was Kari scared. Seriously, turning off lights and locking the doors? Only little children would be frightened by something so elementary. She would have thought Kakashi was insulting her if it didn't appear so comical.

'_Just what are you up to, uncle? What are you up to…_'

Then her gaze was attracted to a man, garbed in janitorial habiliments, languidly cleaning the floor with his mop.

"A janitor!" Kari noted aloud. "Now maybe we can get somewhere now!"

"I don't know. It smells kind of fishy to me."

"Oh, that's just the scent of decaying flesh," she satricized and walked forward. "Just give me a break. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

Naruto seemed very capable of naming numerous scenarios. Before he could name even one, she called out, "Hey! Excuse me! Sir?"

The janitor did not respond.

"Huh. Guess he didn't hear me."

Sakura tentatively said, "Maybe that's for the best. Let's go, Kari. I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Oh, you're just paranoid. Come on. I'll show you."

Kari fearlessly waltzed forward, shining her light on the man's hunched form. "Excuse me? Sir? I was wondering if you could be so kind as to help…?"

The words trailed off her tongue as the man turned around to properly face her light.

Everyone was rendered into a deadly silence.

The man's skin was not pink and fleshy like a normal person's skin. There was barely any skin to begin with. Though most of his face was still shrouded by his cap, bones lay visible across his face, a glaring white underneath the light. One of its eyes lay hidden underneath his wispy, gray hair.

Most of the adolescents came to a single conclusion.

Naruto shouted, "**Ah! It's the zombie janitor!**"

Before everyone could befall to the frightened hysteria, Kari calmly said, "Oh, you're not serious! How many times do I have to tell you? Zombies don't exist. It's just Kakashi in a stupid costume."

To prove her point, Kari marched forward, staring at the frightening creature dead in his eye.

Rising to her toes, she planned to rip the fake head off his head and prove it was Kakashi.

She never expected the head roll off the body at the slightest touch.

Kari took a momentary step back, staring at the curiosity with expressionless eyes. The cap had successfully fallen off, allowing everyone to see. The head revealed to be a rather grotesque thing, its gray skin decayed and frail to the point of revealing bone. One eye bobbed in and out of its respective socket, and its hair was incredibly brittle.

No matter how terrifying the sight was, Kari couldn't help, but stare at it, struck by an unsettling sensation, as if she saw it once before...

"Kari?" At the sound of her name, her steel-blue orbs glanced upwards. The body remained erect, slowly rotating itself directly towards her.

"What do we do now, Kari?" asked a fearful Uzumaki from her shoulder.

"What any person in our current situation would do."

"Run away while screaming our heads off?"

"Like scared, little girls."

That's exactly what they did. As the man's head released a guttural groan, they all screamed and sprinted away.

\\ =x=/

_Seven._

"Okay, guys… I think we're safe. Looks like we lost it."

They all released a loud sigh of relief, relaxing themselves in the darkness. Inhaling a quick, calming breath, Kari began to say, "Alright! Whether that thing is real or not, the main point of our survival is to stay together. From my knowledge of watching thousands of horror flicks, the movie monster always goes after its victims one at a time. We can't get separated."

"Why? Do you have autophobia? Are you afraid of being alone?"

A curled fist came into contact with his blonde head and made him stumble back.

"Keep that up, and we'll see who ends up alone. Just try making one more stupid remark. I dare you."

Naruto released a light rumble of laughter. "Alright! I get it, but I was just thinking you were missing one important element in horror movies."

A silvery brow arched upwards. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"How the first ones to go are usually the funny, good-looking ones," stated Naruto. He then fell into a contemplative silence. "Ah! Oh no! I don't want my genius brains to be eaten first!"

His fellow peers merely scolded him to be quiet. After Kari ignored him and again insisted they stay together, Naruto opened his big mouth once again. "You know what we should do? Fight the big, ugly zombie!"

"It's not a zomb-"

"Come on! It's just a hunk a decayed flesh. We all can definitely take it on. That zombie is not even that scary."

Sakura interrupted in a tentative voice, "Naruto…"

"Yeah, I've seen kittens scarier than an undead janitor."

"Naruto…"

"I say bring it on, headless janitor! It's slaying time!"

"Dobe, will you turn around already and shut up?"

Perplexed by such a command by the stoical Uchiha, he suddenly became hyperaware of a certain presence emanating from behind, the disgusting smell of decomposition repulsing his senses.

Naruto asked, "…the headless zombie is behind me, isn't he?"

"Yep," answered Kari. "But hey! Now you can show us your almighty slaying prowess."

Taking a moment to give the Kikuchi on angry leer, he slowly toward around. The zombie released a gargled wail. Naruto tried to run away, but for a zombie, it reacted quite quickly. It's gnarled fingers captured Naruto's wrists, pulling him inside a janitorial closet.

"Ah! Guys, help!" the Uzumaki wailed desperately, futilely squirming underneath his captor's hands.

"Oh my god! Guys, we seriously have to save him!" exclaimed Kari, watching as Naruto continued his fruitless struggles.

Her fellow contemporaries looked at each other for a singular moment before turning back towards Kari.

"Let the idiot be sacrificed! Every person for themselves!"

"B… but guys!" She glanced back at the flailing blonde boy, who was praying repeatedly to the heavens above to have mercy on his young soul. With a loud groan, Kari tossed the flashlight to one of her peers and darted towards Naruto.

"Kari!"

It was too late. The silvery Kikuchi already captured the blonde's flailing legs, trying to pull him free.

The zombie was far too strong. She felt her sneakered heels skid across the linoleum floors as the zombie proceeded to drag the both of them in the closet. Outmuscling him was certainly not going to work.

Kari needed another form of action. She needed to think fast.

Dropping Naruto's feet to the floor, Kari rounded near the zombie and crashed her leg into his stomach.

Grateful that zombie guts didn't tumble out, she watched the gruesome monster release Naruto and buckle to the floor.

"Run, baka!" Kari dragged Naruto up and away from the zombie, taking him back to their worried friends.

"Oh my god! I thought you guys were goners!" breathed Ten Ten.

"But it's not over yet." Kari's silvery eyes lay fixated on the closed door. The janitor had disappeared. All she could hear was their breath, her own beating of her heart.

The door slowly creaked opened.

Sasuke shouted, "Duck now!"

Almost everyone responded in time and dropped to the floor, watching a long rope extended out from the door's depths. Only one was caught.

"Oh my god! Guys, help!" cried Ino, her body trapped by the long rope. It quickly reeled her inside the closet. The door shut; all one could hear was Ino's terrified screams.

"Ino!" Kari scrambled to her feet, but Sasuke kept her in place. All they could do was wait, listening to the Yamanaka's frantic cry for help. Suddenly, all fell eerily silent.

Kari freed herself from Sasuke's grasp and flung the door open. Her breath shuddered. Her heart sank.

The closet was completely empty.

"So much for staying together…" sighed Sakura, hastily wiping wet droplets from her eyes.

Sasuke announced, "We have to keep moving. We need to find our way out of here. Come on."

Everyone began following Sasuke's lead forward. He paused for a second and looked back, staring at a shining mane of silver light.

"That means you too, Kikuchi. Let's go. No time for you to be scared."

She whirled around and sneered. "No way am I scared, teme!"

"Then hurry up."

As a curse floated into her mind, she trudged herself behind him, wondering how he suddenly declared himself leader. How dare he even accuse her of being frightened? She was not. She was only wondering how they made Ino disappear.

'_So many mysteries yet to be solved…_'

But Kari planned on figuring this all out. One way or another.

\\ =x=/

_Six_

"You know, Uchiha. You surely are a womanizer," Kari noted absently.

The light casted a white glow over his smoldering black orbs, narrowed into a leer. "Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Sakura there is just clinging onto your aim for dear life and you have yet to shake her off."

Sasuke granted her with a silent response, waving his aim up and down. Sakura didn't move a single inch. "Does it look like I have much of a choice?"

Kari rolled her eyes, too tired to argue otherwise.

"So where are we going?" asked Hinata.

"Well, there are two exits closest to our current position," explained the stoical Uchiha. "The one we are aiming for is the school's side exit, which isn't too far from here."

"If it's locked, there's always the exit in the gymnasium!" added Naruto cheerfully.

Kari merely nodded her head, senses hyperaware of her surroundings. Ears were tuned to every possible sound, her eyes lay watchful of every shifting shadow.

The party of six froze in their place, hearing something slosh from beneath them.

"Water?" noted the silver-haired female, stepping out of the puddle. "Careful, guys. Watch your steps."

Naruto floated to her side. "Why? Are you hydrophobic or something?"

The blonde Uzumaki suddenly found himself on the ground, face soaked with precipitation.

"Shut up!" Kari growled in a hushed voice. "Your loud voice is giving me a massive headache."

"So mean… why doesn't everyone seem to appreciate my humor?"

Kari merely rolled her eyes. Just before she could offer her own retort, a loud, raspy moan caught all of their attentions. The group slowly turned their heads, allowing a light to fall over the appearance of a new figure.

"Run, guys!" Everyone dashed forward, feet pounding on the wet, slippery floor. The zombie stumbled after them with loud, clumsy steps.

Sakura suddenly slipped on the wet flooring, releasing Sasuke as she slid right into the wall. The pink Haruno was too disoriented to call for help. The group was too preoccupied in losing the zombie to notice one was missing.

The world tilted and swayed wildly as Sakura groggily asked, "G… guys? Where are you?" Clarity dawned over when a pungent odor registered in her mind. She looked up and screamed.

_Five_

"Dammit! We lost Sakura-chan!" cried Naruto after they heard her shriek.

"No turning back now. The door's right there."

And there it surely was. The blessed sight of the lightless exit sign gave them such a sense of relief… and one with suspicion.

"I don't know, guys. This all seems way too easy," Kari said dubiously.

The blonde Uzumaki scoffed. "What? Now you have a fear of freedom?"

Before Kari could punish him for his inane accusations, the blonde exclaimed, "To freedom!"

And so ran Naruto, Ten Ten, and Hinata. The Kikuchi glanced over to Sasuke, who seemed as skeptical as she was. She watched his light trace the floor, searching for something, anything out of the ordinary and alleviate them of their anxieties.

Her eyes widened. "Guys, stop! It's a trap!"

Naruto retrogressed at her desperate cry, clear blue orbs deluged with confusion.

For Ten Ten and Hinata, it was far too late. A net sprang up from underneath them, capturing them and hauling them upwards. Sasuke swiftly flashed a light to the ceiling.

The two girls were nowhere in sight.

_Three._

The sound of the undead footsteps reverberated all throughout the empty hallways, sending chills down the spine of the remaining survivors. They quickly dove for the nearest hiding spot: The girl's bathroom.

Kari leaned her back against the wall, running a tired hand through her silvery hair. "Oh my freakin' god! We lost so many people in the matter of what? Minutes? Seconds even?"

Sasuke said tersely, "I thought you were bent on pinning this whole thing on Kakashi-san and Sai."

"Oh, I am," replied Kari, "But I'm keeping my mind wide open. Like how this guy could be some serial killer who dresses up in freaky zombie outfits and kidnaps poor, unsuspecting teens. I find it perfectly plausible right now."

The poor girl would be able to life with herself if she allowed her friend to be tortured and killed!

Suddenly something slippery and rubbery fly across both her cheeks with a resounding smack.

With two rubber fish in his hand, Naruto shouted, "Ha ha! You got fish slapped, sucka! Kari's afraid of fish!"

Her pale cheeks flushed with rage, nerves of varying sizes materialized on her forehead. Her patience had suddenly dissipated.

"Naruto, do you want to die!" Sasuke swiftly leapt to action, restraining the fuming Kikuchi before she mutilated the laughing Uzumaki. "Let me at him! I'm going to sacrifice him to the guy hoping he is a zombie! Every time he tries to uncover my greatest fear, someone goes missing. I don't know if it's karma or what, but I'm getting tired of it!"

Naruto roared into a wild laughter, resting his back against the sink. "Come on, Kari! Lighten up! You're over thinking things. That was just a joke."

"We'll see who's laughing after I shove that fish down your throat."

Kari rage had suddenly subsided. Eyes of cerulean and black gaped at the mirror behind the blonde.

To their surprise, what they saw wasn't Naruto's reflection.

"Naruto, look behind you!" Kari shouted, but it was all too late. Before the Uzumaki could react, the zombie in the mirror reached forward and dragged him inside. Her stomach clenched, tears stinging her eyes.

"No, not Naruto too…"

_Two._

The faucets suddenly began to flood and deluge onto the floor. Toilets sprang to life and sounded in a discordant symphony.

"Move, Kikuchi!" The two of them sprinted outside the bathroom and back into the dank hallways. Their breathing was heavy and erratic. Their footsteps sounded in melodic harmony with the undead janitor's cries.

They ran and ran… before the hood of Kari's black jacket was caught.

"Oh my god! No! No!" Kari cried, feeling herself being dragged back to who knows where.

"The jacket!"

She frantically slipped the black fabric off her arms and proceeded to dash forward. She unconsciously clasped onto Sasuke's free hand and followed him blindly through the darkness. Kari glanced back.

She suddenly tripped down the floor, feeling the janitor's coarse skull knock into her legs. She unwittingly dragged Sasuke down right with her and knocked her head into the wall.

Then once the zombie hovered over her and collected his head, everything gave way to a numbing darkness.

\\ =x=/

'_W… where… where am I?_'

Kari grumbled as she slowly regained consciousness. A light breeze caressed her face, chilling her features.

'_Wait. A breeze?_' How could that even be possible? Why would she feel a breeze while inside a building… unless she was outside.

Struck by such a thought, Kari's eyes snapped open. A sense of confusion came over her as she examined her surroundings – or tried to at least. She could barely see her own hand in front of her face.

"Sasuke?"

No response.

Her hands groped the floor to help give her a better feel for her surroundings.

Her hear nearly ceased beating when she suddenly felt bare space. She slowly crawled towards the edge and looked down. Her chest clenched, and her stomach suddenly felt woozy.

She somehow ended up on the roof.

Kari jumped back and curled up into a tight ball.

'_Don't look down._' Her whole body quavered when she peeked over the edge once more. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood. A disconcerting chill ripped through her body. Tears stung her eyes, threatening to deluge over.

'_J… just don't look down… don't look down…_'

_One_

\\ =x=/

Sasuke's head felt like it was pounding. What hit him?

All he remembered was running away from that stupid janitor with Kari, but everything after that was a total blank…

"Sasuke?" At the sound of his name, a startling realization dawned over him. Sasuke bolted upright.

"Kikuchi?" he called out. No one answered. "Kikuchi, I know you're there! Where are you?"

A curse floated into his mind when only silence answered. He growled, "Dammit, Kari, where are you?"

Then he found her – her name to be more exact.

Blazing in the darkness were two very specific words: Kikuchi Hikari.

"Kari?" He allowed the light to be his guide as he edged closer, his eyes slowly adjusting to the deep shadows. Then he finally found her. Her head was buried in her knees, completely and eerily still.

"Hey, Kikuchi, what's your deal?" She offered no response, continuing to sit in the same exact position, not even stirring to acknowledge his presence. She just muttered something incoherently under her breath, repeating it over and over again. "Kikuchi, have you finally lost your marbles and admitting your insane?"

She did not reply with her usual impudence and remained frozen in her place, resembling very much like a marble statue.

He finally understood what she was chanting under her breath.

"H… high…" His eyebrows quirked up in confusion, noticing her body shaking slightly. "So… so… high."

Confused by such a statement, Sasuke looked over the edge. Everything beneath them seemed so small and insignificant in the surrounding darkness. How in the world did they get on the roof?

He then snapped his head towards Kari, scrutinizing her silent, shaking form.

Then something clicked.

"So high… don't look down… don't look down…"

Sasuke softly said, "Kikuchi… you're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

Kari was too immobilized by fear to reply. Sasuke automatically understood.

A low groan burst from his lips as he ran a hand through his dark locks. Just what was he doing to do with a petrified girl? Normally when he was confronted with such annoying situations, he would simply walk away. In this situation?

Something about it just felt… different.

He stiffly sat beside her and placed, what he intended to be, a comforting hand awkwardly on her shoulder. "There. There. It's going to be okay," he said with no inflection in his voice, having zero clue how to placate a girl (or really any human being). "There's nothing to be scared of."

Apparently, his awkward words of comfort were enough for her.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around his torso, a silver head burying itself into his chest. Sasuke froze in his place with his arms suspended in mid-air, unsure what exactly he should do with them. His black orbs blinked and looked down.

In normal circumstances and with any other creature, Sasuke would be annoyed, beyond even the very use of the word even. The person who dared touch him would most likely be dead (or suffer a mental demise).

Anything concerning Kari was anything, but normal.

Looking down at her, Sasuke had never seen her so innocent and vulnerable. It seemed forever since he'd seen anything like it…

The Uchiha slowly wrapped his arms around her. "Everything's going to be okay…" Kari's shivering slowly ceased, her body relaxing. "You're safe now. There's nothing here to scare you."

Or so he thought.

A familiar raspy voice groaned, ripping through the darkness and capturing both of their attentions.

The zombie seemed to advance towards them in mid-air, dragging his feet directly towards them. He released another guttural cry.

Such strident sound forced Kari to face the zombie and look down. Her stomach performed back flips. Her mind spun in dizzying circles.

Slowly, she was able to regain her focus.

Looking down at the world from above, the quiet streets were small rectangles, elongating to a point her eyes could not see. Yellow streams of light emanated from the streetlight, retrieving the road from the gloom, saving it from the surrounding darkness. Windows were gently aglow with light, struggling to stretch farther out into the shadow's shroud. She had a bird's eye view of everything…

Clarity washed over her, expunging her nausea from her systems. She's seen this all before. Every exact detail. She just remembered it from a much smaller scale. She slipped out of Sasuke's arms and stood, processing such a realization in her mind.

_A curious circular object glowed atop the roof, emblazoned with an incoherent letter. What was it? An R, and A… an H?_

Suddenly, she realized just what the H symbolized, what this all meant.

Her fists clenched. Her teeth gritted together.

"No way. I can't be." She stepped onto the thin ridge, steel-blue orbs firmly intent on the ground.

"Kikuchi…?" But it was too late. Kari already jumped off. "Idiot! Do you want to di…"

All words trailed off his tongue as he stared at the young girl. She didn't plummet down to meet her demise; she actually landed quite firmly on her feet and seemed suspended in thin air.

A triumphant smile curved her lips. "Ah-hah! Got it! I knew this looked familiar. This is just another one of your paintings, Sai!"

The zombified janitor remained transfixed in his place, staring curiously at the fuming girl.

"Don't pretend you're not Sai! I'm sick and tired of all this! Get out of that costume right now."

No response.

Finally, the zombie allowed its head to roll onto the floor, running its decayed hand down its side. It's skin suddenly flopped to the ground, revealing an entirely new figure.

"Hi there, Hi-chan!" waved Sai rather cheerily, lifting a strange pair of goggles from his eyes. An annoying grin was curved over his lips, almost gleaming amongst the glowing paint. "Now was that scary enough for you?"

Kari's gray brow twitched in annoyance. "I am… going to _kill_ you, Sai!"

Just as Kari blindly ran through the shadows and pounced, Sai had already placed the goggles over his eyes and successfully evaded her assault. Recovering from her stumble, Kari's orbs were hard on her dark-haired friend, glaring daggers into his general direction.

"Alright. Fun's over. She knows!" shouted Sai.

Suddenly the overhead lights slowly flickered on. Kari and Sasuke's eyes burned once the room was filled with blinding illumination.

Steel-blue orbs took in her surroundings, absorbing the sight of sturdy paper underneath her as well as the platform that she once thought was the rooftop. She turned her head to the side, glaring at a large fan whirring silently before her. Kari then looked beyond the large fan and stared at the structure behind it.

"You've got to be kidding me… we're in the gymnasium?" The silver-haired girl threw her head back, groaning alongside an equally annoyed dark-haired male.

"Yes, you see…"

"Acrophobia!" The silvery blue girl cringed at the sound of a familiar, boisterous voice. As if to answer any doubt that may have been in her mind, she watched as a certain blonde dash towards her, equipped with a strange device over his eyes. He threw a pointed finger at her. "Ah-hah! I got it! Kari-chan has acrophobia! She has a fear of heights!"

Sai chuckled and nodded his head. "Yep! She does."

Aqueous silver narrowed into slits, sneering at the two with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "Both of you, just shut up."

Sasuke hopped off the stand and nonchalantly walked towards them. "Alright, I think now would be a great time to explain everything?"

"I'll be more than happy to explain." Kakashi appeared seemingly from thin air, ambling towards them with his eye on his novel.

Kari shouted, "I knew it! You are the evil mastermind behind this! To think, no one believed me…"

"The question of my morality is only seen in a negative light by you, Hi-chan," retorted Kakashi. "But, otherwise, yes. With Sai's assistance, I was able to orchestrate this whole night. Everything went according to plan… in the exception of you figuring everything out."

Naruto then interjected a question, simply asking the two the exact details of their plan.

"Oh, right. You were the last one we got, and never heard our explanation." The silver-haired man turned a languid dark orb to the young artist, silently asking him to begin.

Sai cleared his throat. "Well, for starters, what Kari had said earlier was correct. The whole story of Aoto Koroi? All fabrication courtesy of Kakashi."

Naruto's mouth nearly slacked, dropping down to the floor. "What! There really is no zombie?" The two males shook their head. "…Darn! There goes the highlight of my day…"

"That whole story actually just popped into my head at the very last moment. Not bad if I do say so myself," said Kakashi and continued, "I knew Kari would not fall for a simple ghost story so I obviously had to bring it to life. 'Aoto Koroi' is nothing more than a costume from our beloved Haunted House. Most of you guys were simply far too scared to even notice."

This statement had almost actuated a self-inflicted smack to the face. Kari was wondering why the head looked so familiar; she did try to rip that mask off Sai's head after all.

Sasuke then presented his own question, "But, how were you guys able to move so fast? It was pitch black."

A grin spread over Sai's lips. "There were several things we used. After we temporarily turned off the building's main power grid, Kakashi and I took turns watching the monitors in the security room to supervise your movements. Those run on a separate power source from the lights so those worked perfectly fine. As for getting around the dark? Well it wasn't very difficult, considering we had these night vision goggles."

"Where the hell do you get night vision goggles?"

"…I have my sources, and they do not need to be disclosed."

Kari did not offer any more words, thinking it would be better to remain in ignorant bliss than burden herself with such complicated details.

"And Naruto was hogging them the whole time!"

"Yeah! We couldn't see anything because the baka can't share."

Naruto quickly lift the goggles off his face, nervously scratching the back of his head. The sound of these unprecedented voices caught the attentions of two figures, causing their heads to look up at the bleachers. The silvery Kikuchi sighed in relief, thankful to see all her friends were safely accounted for.

"But that doesn't explain how you guys were able to get around so quickly… or explain how these guys disappeared," challenged Sasuke.

Kakashi's answer was very simple. He explained that the school was very old. It has so many secret passages and entryways, but only the teachers and principal know the exact location of every single one.

Kari resounded a loud 'oh' of understanding. "So that's how you got Ino, Ten Ten and Hinata to disappear… and how you were able to get Naruto from behind the mirror."

"But I'm more curious to hear _your_ explanation, Hi-chan." A lazy, dark eye glanced up, meeting an aqueous gaze. "How did you figure it out in the end?"

Irritation slowly took place in her mind as she replied with a slight growl, "When Sai left me all by myself to clean the art room, he dropped a piece of paper behind… which I now know was just this evil thing underneath us at a much smaller scale."

"Ah! I knew I was forgetting something! What you had was probably just a sketch of the city scene. Kakashi-san had asked me to help out and paint the scene below us as realistically as possible," explained Sai. "But I sensed you were going to figure it all out when I dropped you off on that platform." His dark eyes fleetingly wandered to her arms, hardening into solid obsidian as he said, "So… I suck, do I?"

Kari blinked in confusion, looking down at her pristine arm. "Huh? What are you… OH CRAP! I FORGOT TO WASH THE GLOW IN THE DARK PAINT OFF!"

Sai merely waved her off, assuring her he was fine with it. Seeing her scared face was more than enough retribution on his part. Kari merely glared at him in response.

"Now, come on. It's late, and I know all of you are very tired. Let's get out of here."

The silver-haired female was more than happy to agree. She rushed towards the door, ready to open it ajar, but instead paused. A smile curled her lips and opened the door, sidestepping the incoming bucket with sheer ease.

The Kikuchi cackled in triumph. "Ha! Nice try, Sai! Can't get me that easily."

With such a triumphant smile on her face, Kari proceeded to open the other door.

_**Splat!**_

Ever so slowly, the sopping girl lifted the silvery, metal bucket from her head, gawking at the strangely familiar object with wet eyes.

Kakashi clicked his tongue in disappointment. "That was for kicking me in the stomach, Hikari. I didn't deserve that. Now, you had to face the wrath of the silvery bucket... yet again."

Kari could not utter a word, radiating with a nearly corporeal aura of odious abhorrence. She abruptly turned her back to him and began walking outside.

"Kari, perhaps you should put on your jacket? It's a tad cold and blustery outside. You might get sick."

The silvery girl merely scoffed. "Ha! You're just being over protective, Uncle Kakashi. I don't get sick that easily. I have a great immune system!"

Then the young girl dashed out the school threshold, savoring the grand sense of freedom. Many of her contemporaries followed suit, running out to enjoy the nightly air.

Only one figure was left behind.

'_Great immune system, huh?_' Last time he recalled, her immune system was just as poor as her father. Those two always seemed to get sick so easily. He thought he was the one gifted with a strong immunity. Kakashi was the one that had to help take care of those two after all.

"Kakashi, hurry up! I'm hungry, and you have to feed me!"

"Coming, Hi-chan," called out Kakashi as he began heading out the door.

Oh well. That was just his simple prediction. Who knows if it would really come true?

**

* * *

A/N Notes:** Huzzah! I return from the ashes to finally update this story! Sorry it took so long. Normally this is where I give a longwinded excuse of why I haven't updated so long, but the point is? I did! Yay! I promise to try to update this story a little more frequently.

Now perhaps you guys could help me on the next chapter? I need some help with ideas. I have a few, but I'm still a little stuck.

Okay so what would happen if Kari was…

A) Sick

B) Drunk

You can PM or leave your ideas in the review section. Either way would suffice and be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Entering: The First Sick Day**

The school day started quite peacefully in Konoha High. There were no outward disruptions, not overly noises. To Hatake Kakashi, for once everything in Konoha was pleasantly normal.

Kakashi would have enjoyed such rare serenity… if it wasn't for a certain, annoying blonde boy.

"Kaka-sensei!" The white-haired teacher lazily raised his gaze from his book, watching Uzumaki Naruto storm towards his desk. "Where is she?"

"Where's who?" asked Kakashi in a languid and tired voice.

"Don't play dumb with me!" shouted the blonde student, slamming his palms right into Kakashi's desk. "Tell me what you did with her! Did you lock her down in your basement, only giving her small amounts of water and food to live off of until she's nothing but skin and bones?"

The white-haired instructor blinked once and stared, slowly processing the Uzumaki's words in his mind.

He then said in realization, "Oh… are you asking where's Kikuchi Hikari?"

"In his own strange way, yes." Sakura pushed Naruto aside, who was still insisting on various forms of imprisonment and torture. The pinkette said, "Well, you are her guardian. We thought it'd be best if we ask you where she is today."

"Well, why didn't you just ask me directly?" The small congregation of students turned towards the blonde boy, who exhibited a wide smile on his face. Kakashi sighed and bluntly replied, "Kari's sick."

"She is?" asked Ino.

"Yes. High fever. I told her to wear her jacket that one day, but she refused… stubborn girl…"

The small group released a unison of 'ohs', nodding their heads in consideration.

"Well, is alright if we come after school today to check on her?"

"To see if she's really sick and not hidden in some torture annex or something!"

Kakashi mulled over their request for a considerable, calculating moment. "I don't see why not. It would be a nice surprise for her. She gets lonely rather easily and would love seeing you all."

"Oh really? Are you sure it won't be a surprise for _us_ when we see her gagged and – ow!" cried Naruto, rubbing his sore head after Sakura hit him.

"Um, we… we will see you after school to see Kari-chan then, Kakashi-sensei," said Hinata, slowly following Sakura as she dragged the blonde away before he could speak anymore nonsense.

Soon, Kakashi was left alone, his classroom falling silent once again.

'_I wonder…was that a good decision?_' Kakashi mused absently, reopening his novel once again. In the back of his mind, he held a strange premonition, a foreboding a some sort of ill fortune in the near future. '_Oh well. I must be getting paranoid._'

"Kakashi-san?" At the sound of his name, he looked up, his single eye meeting a pair of warm obsidian.

"Shizune-san, is there something up?" asked Kakashi.

"Why yes. Tsunade-sama wanted me to relay a quick message to you and arrange a possible meeting later on in the day."

Kakashi then shut his novel, giving the young woman his undivided attention. "Well then. I'm all ears."

\\ =x=/

Kakashi's home was situated not too far from the high school, just an easy walking distance for her friends. The weather that fine October afternoon was even perfectly crisp.

No matter how easy it was or how beautiful the day was, one person help but find the task a complete waste of valuable time.

"Why am I going with you guys to see Kikuchi?" asked Sasuke, ambling behind the small group with a customary scowl on his face. "It's not like I care that she's ill and all."

"Well I wanted as many of her friends to visit her!" Sakura answered cheerily.

Naruto added, "And since Ten Ten's busy at her club practice, you were the next best thing. Seeing your face may give her a good laugh."

"Hn. Maybe if she doesn't get blinded by your attire first." Sasuke remained unimpressed by Naruto's glare or his response afterward. By then, they had reached Kari's house.

Their sensei's abode resembled much like the others on this street – a quaint structure painted a pristine white. The small group walked up the stone pathway and up to the door. Sakura gently knocked on the door.

The door slowly opened. The young adolescents felt their eyes widen in surprise, mouths slack in shock. Who they saw was neither their sensei or their sickly friend. The person was none other than the dark-haired artist himself.

"Sai, what are you doling here?" asked Ino.

"Kakashi-san asked me if I could watch Kari for a little while He had to stay a little while after school for some meeting," Sai replied. Dark orbs glanced over each face, seeming almost surprised by their sudden appearances. "Oh, that's right. Kakashi-san told me that you all would be visiting. Please come in."

They group slowly ventured within, following Sai towards a single door. Thunderous coughs pervaded through the thin walls, reaching their surprised ears.

"Aw… Kari-chan doesn't sound well at all," Hinata said worriedly.

"Well, it's her own fault. Her immune system was never good even when she was a young girl," Sai said bluntly. "Feel free to enter her room and see for yourself if you like."

"Of course I want to see! You and Kaka-sensei may have tied her up and hung her upside down over a pit of watery death," declared Naruto. Despite the various eye rolls and groans, Naruto twisted the knob and swung the door open.

Inside the room were no ropes, no prison bars, nor any torture devices.

Everything was perfectly normal. All the curtains were closed, veiling everything in an impenetrable layer of darkness. They were able to recognize one figure, hidden underneath a large comforter.

"Hikari?"

"**Go. Away**," she growled, her voice husky and congested. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Well, Hi-chan, why don't you just get up since you're awake? There are some people here who want to s-"

"Rise and shine, Kari-chan!"

The window curtains were flung open. Light quickly percolated through the darkness, washing everything with a blinding luminescence.

A silver girl squeaked in surprise, ducking underneath her blanket for safety.

"Kari-chan, why are you hiding? Your best friend, Naruto, is here!" he proclaimed.

"More like my worst nightmare," a muffled version of Kari's voice spoke up, followed by a low cough. "Go away! I want to sleep."

"Well too bad because we came all this way to see you! Now get out from under there!" Naruto quickly pulled the comforter off, allowing it to flutter onto the floor and revealing the Kikuchi girl.

Several pairs of surprised eyes gawked at her current, unruly appearance, the tired looking in her steel-blue eyes. He t-shirt and shorts were crinkled and wrinkly. Her face was horribly pale, dark circles evident from underneath her eyes. Her hair was pulled up into a messy silver bun, tendrils sticking to her sweaty flesh.

"Wow! Kari-chan, you really must be sick because you look terrible!" exclaimed Naruto, opening another set of curtains that led out to a small terrace.

"Gee, thanks, Naruto." She sniffled, wincing as more sunlight poured into her room. "Well, you guys saw me so why don't you all leave? Naruto's ugly bright orange jacket is giving me a massive headache."

Naruto tore his amazed blue eyes away from the terrace and glared at the impassive Kikuchi. "Hey! You're mean when you're sick!"

"Hi-chan's just a little cranky because we woke her up from her nap," Sai explained, watching Kari roll her eyes and cough. "I was planning on waking you up and giving you your medicine. Since you guys are here, why don't one of you get it for me while I take her temperature?"

Before any of her more reliable friends could offer their assistance, Naruto spastically waved his hand. "Ooh! I'll do it! I want to do it! Pick me!"

Everyone stared at the spastic blonde for a few long moments, their gazes skeptical. Sai was especially dubious. "…why would I let an illiterate idiot get her medicine?"

Ino sighed and said, "Well, it's not like it's a hard thing to do. What's the harm? What could go wrong?"

The raven-haired artist could easily name several things right on top of his head. He then gave a submissive shrug of his shoulders, tossing Naruto a spoon. "Alright. I'll give you a chance. Just fill the spoon with medicine in the fridge. It's a clear liquid and the only medicine bottle there. You can't possibly miss it."

With a cheerful bob of his head, Naruto gave a military salute and dashed out of the room. Sai stood there for a few long moments, wondering what ungodly force possessed him into allowing such an act. He then promptly dismissed it.

Perhaps, he should give him a little more credit. The Uzumaki wasn't a _total_ moron.

Then again, maybe he was right to worry. He would have never expected Naruto to pick the first bottle that he saw. His blue orbs stared at the name of the substance with a evident fascination.

"Sobieski… wow! This must be some awesome, foreign medicine!"

Without a single hesitation, he quickly poured the liquid into he spoon and promptly raced back.

"Sai, I got it! I got it!" Naruto triumphantly announced, proceeding through the door with the medicinal liquid in hand.

The dark-haired artist lifted his gaze from the thermometer in surprise, graciously accepting the spoon from the blonde.

"...You actually got it. To think I expected you to botch it up with your pint-sized brain. Maybe it is as big as a loaf of bread after all..." Sai then promptly tuned Naruto out, ignoring the knucklehead's raucous complaints and shouts over his questionable intelligence. He gently lifted Kari's head up and administered the clear liquid slowly into her mouth.

Kari quickly swallowed the liquid and hacked out a slew of violent coughs. Such behavior momentarily confused him. Kari always did hate her medicine, but he never recalled her responding so adversely to it before.

'_Oh well. Must be my imagination_,' he inwardly deliberated, seeing the silvery girl stop coughing and fell asleep.

He then quietly directed the group out the door to give Hikari some peace and quiet, trying to dismiss this strange worry gnawing at the back of his mind...

\\ =x=/

The next few minutes were fairly uneventful, full of trivial, miscellaneous chatter. Sai wanted them all to leave already, but they all thought it was too soon.

"Why kicking us out so soon?" Naruto had said. "Are you planning on experimenting on Kari's unconscious body... Or worse!"

Before he could say anymore, Sakura and Ino promptly punched him into silence.

The general congregation simply sat there in the small living room in relative silence... when someone rather unexpected made an appearance.

"H...heeeyy. Why's everything so quiet?" Their heads quickly turned in surprise, facing the owner of the voice.

"Hikari... Why are you out of your bed? You're supposed to be sleeping now," Sai asked slowly, gawking at her in palpable confusion.

"Why would I be sleeping if there's s party going on? That's silly!" Kari rambled in an incoherent slur, struggling to remain erect. "Aaanndd, I'm glad I did. God, it's so boring here! Wwhhy are you all just sitting there? Get up, and let's par-_tay_!"

Kari pumped her fists into the air, but soon fell down to the ground. "Oh! Whoopsies! Kari-chan fell down down!" At the thought, the steel-blue eyed Kikuchi laughed, wobbling as attempted to rise back to her feet.

"What the hell is wrong with her now?" Sasuke impassively asked, turning towards Sai. "Is she so sick she's submitting to her insanity?"

Sai did not hear the Uchiha's inquiry. All he could do was stare, his expression clean of all emotion as he watched Kari stumble and laugh, releasing an occasional hiccup and cough.

"Oh no... Naruto, you got the medicine I asked for, didn't you?"

Naruto fervently nodded his head. "Yeah, a clear liquid in the fridge like you asked. I got some foreign sounding medicine... Sobieski, I think?"

"You illiterate buffoon! Do you have am iota of sense? You didn't bring me medicine. You just gave her _**vodka**_! You never give that twerp vodka! She has the alcohol tolerance of an amoeba!" Seeing the group stare at him in confusion, unaware of the horrendous ramifications of Naruto's actions, Sai offered further elaboration. "Some time ago, I gave Hikari some sake as a joke to see how ridiculous she's act… that was a horrible mistake. Even just a little bit makes the girl out of control."

Naruto took a few moment's to process the information. "Oooohhhh... My bad then?"

"You're bad? If Kakashi comes home and sees Hikari drunk, he'll..." Pale lids slid to a close when his cell phone rang. "My luck... Speaking of the devil... He calls. Excuse me for a moment. If you guys can, please get the girl back to bed. I don't want her getting even worse and start breaking anything."

They all nodded their heads in acceptance as Sai stepped out of the room.

"So... Any ideas how we get a sickly drunk back to her room?"

"Just let me handle this guys," declared the Uzumaki, stepping and towards the Kari.

"Baka, you're the one that got her drunk in the first place. You're the last person I'd want help from."

"Shut up, Sasuke! I can do this! It's not that hard!" Naruto sneered at passive Uchiha before turning a bright smile to the young Kikuchi. "Hey, Kari-chan! How are you feeling?"

"It's... Hot in here!" she replied, fanning herself with her hands before using the edge of her shirt.

"It's because you're really sick, Kari! You'd feel a lot better if you go to your room and get some re...?" For once, Naruto was unable to say anything, dumbly watching as Kari struggled to pull her shirt off her head.

"Look away, pervert!" After a blow to his skull, Naruto obeyed, covering his eyes and walking. Even Sasuke turned his head away in embarrassment. Sakura gently urged, "Now, Kari, please don't take off your clothes like that! We don't want you giving the boys a striptease!"

"But it's so hot!" Kari complained, successfully relieving herself of her t-shirt and standing there with her bra and shorts.

Proceeding to strip off her shorts as well, the three girls shouted in exasperation, "No, Kari, don't take off your shorts! Don't unhook your bra! Stop right now!"

As the girls fought Kari to put back her shirt and keep her other clothes on, Sai walked back into the room, rubbing a tired hand through his dark locks.

"Just my luck... Guys, I have some news! Kakashi-sen..." The young man quickly turned his head away, shocked by Kari's sudden partial nudity. "Why is Hikari without a shirt?"

"Beats me! I was trying to tell her to go back inside her room, and then she started taking off her shirt!" Naruto spoke out, hand firmly placed over his eyes. Sasuke did not utter a word, his gaze fixated on the wall. There was no denying it that even he, the cold Uchiha genius, was rather uncomfortable and embarrassed by the current situation.

The artist then suggested, "Sakura, Ino, Hinata, take Kari back to her room and deal with her there." Sai blinked in surprise as a pair of shorts landed squarely on Sasuke's head.

"I'm not sure how comfortable the males in this room are with Kari's current disposition.

The girls nodded their heads, taking the fallen garment off the Uchiha, and swept Kari off to her room.

\\=x=/

Once the three females finally placated the sickly drunk and had her holed up in her room, they returned back to the young artist to hear the latest developments.

"Alright. As I was trying to say earlier before the earlier mishap, Kakashi-sensei called to inform me he's coming home a little later than he originally expected. He'll be home in about half an hour. All we have to do is keep Kari in her bed in a semblance of sobriety until Kakashi comes home. She is in her room, correct?"

Sakura nodded her head, "Yes, after we got her dressed, we made her stay in her bed and sleep."

He merely sighed in relief. "Good. As long as we keep her in her room until Kakashi-san returns home, then I believe we can survive this relatively unscathed..."

"I'm bored." Kari suddenly appeared in the midst, swaying side to side as she stared them with an unfocused gleam in her eyes.

Sai mentally cursed. "Kari, what are you doing here? I thought you were in your room."

"Yeah, I was, and it's boring in there. I came out to have some fun with you guys, but I forgot this party sucks. You guys are even more boring," Kari moaned in a drunken slur, hobbling past them and towards the door. "Kari-chan is going outside for some real fun."

Sai immediately jumped to his feet, dashing to stop her from reaching the door. "Oh no you don't, Hikari. You are not going out in your sorry state. Now you are going to be a good girl and go back to your room. Okay?"

The Kikuchi stopped in her place and seemed to consider the request for a single moment, hiccupping and coughing every now and then. "Yes... Only if you can catch me first!" The young man was confused for a moment, watching as Kari suddenly gave him a quick tap on the shoulder. "Tag! You're it!"

Sai watched in a long daze, seeing Kari dashed forward, running rampant around the tiny abode. He then announced, "Grab her now!"

Most of them followed Sai's orders and dashed after Kari. Ino was hot on Kari's tail, following her as she circled around the living room.

The silvery girl suddenly jumped up onto a large armchair, pushing the back down until her feet were back onto the floor. Ino sadly did not react quickly enough. She tripped over the fallen furniture and flopped onto the ground, far too disoriented to do much of anything. Hinata worriedly stopped from her pursuit and sat beside her.

Next was Sakura's turn. The floral pinkette waited for Kari to run up into the dining room, standing atop the tall tabletop. Just as the drunk girl proceeded to run into the room, Sakura leapt forward, ready to tackle and pin her down to the ground. Sadly, Kari tripped over her own two feet and stumbled onto the floor. The flying Haruno crashed into the house wall, crumpling down onto the floor, dazed and confused.

Sai and Naruto were the last two to make any attempts. The two glanced over to each other and gave each other a nod.

Sai was the first to move. Kari squealed in drunken delight as she stumbled through the small abode, occasionally glancing passed her shoulder to see if the dark-haired artist was still after her.

"Aw, Sai! Yous can do sbetter zen that!" she slurred, followed by a loud hiccup.

Sai did not offer a response. He instead watched her trip over a vaguely conscious Haruno. She clumsily stumbled forward, arms waving wildly over her head until she inevitably collapsed into the china cabinet. She stumbled back, sitting dazedly on the floor. Sai paused a moment, watching the cabinet wobble back and forth - Kakashi's _expensive_ china cabinet.

Just as the cabinet began to lean forward and Kari clumsily crawled away, Sai rushed in and stopped it from falling. After a very long moment, Sai managed to return the cabinet to its proper state, all without breaking a single plate. He breathed out a long sigh of relief, sinking down into the floor.

Only Naruto remained.

"Ah-hah! I got you!" He rashly ran towards the dazed, charging with no regard to his surroundings.

If he had, perhaps he would have noticed the tiny coffee table separating them. He inelegantly tripped right over, landing face first at Kari's feet.

Kari coughed and laughed. "Silly Naruto! No one can catch me!"

The silvery girl stepped right over him and dashed off to the other recesses of the house.

"_Smooth_, dobe."

The blonde turned an irate glance over towards the source of the voice. "Oh yeah? Then why don't you get up and actually do something!" Sasuke didn't seem to even hear him, lazily flipping a page in the book he was reading. A nerve pulsed against Naruto's temple. "Teme, don't you ignore me! Why don't you help us out!"

"Why should I? I was forced here against my will. It's not my responsibility. You deal with it."

Naruto slowly lifted his sore body off the ground, sneering at the raven-haired boy's impassivity to their plight. Sakura, Ino, and Sai soon joined him, massaging sore and bruise limbs.

"Wow, for a drunk, she surely is dangerous. I never knew she can move so fast," Sakura noted aloud.

"But where did she go?" Sai asked.

Ino informed him, "It looked like she was going towards the rooms. Hinata went after her and is going to try to put her in her bed."

"If she can..."

That last phrase floated up into the air as everything fell total silent. All they could do was wait and listen.

Then there was a noise. _"I believe I can fly! I believe I can touch the sky!"_

This curious sound was soon followed by a frightened cry, "No! Kari, you can't fly! Get down now!"

Alarm surged through their veins and widening their eyes. Sai, Ino, Sakura, and Naruto dash into the hallway. They finally met Hinata in front of Hikari's room, her lavender orbs wide with fear and apprehension.

"Hinata, what's the matter? Where's Hikari?"

Hinata frantically said, "The balcony! We have get her down now!"

**_"She's where?"_**

The shocked group raced inside. The curtains were drawn wide open, the door leading to the balcony wide open. Standing outside on the thick railing was a certain silver-haired girl.

"Kikuchi Hikari, are you out of your freaking mind?" Naruto shouted. "Get down from that rail right now!"

Kari released a petulant snort. "No! You're not the boss of me! I'm not going! This party is boring so I wanna go have real fun!"

"Kari, we are serious. Get down now. You could get hurt," Sai spoke sternly, taking a simple tentative step towards her.

"Make me!" She stuck her tongue out and danced along the rail, clearly oblivious to the nearly fatal drop. Soon, she almost lost her footing.

They all held their breaths, watching as Kari began to wobble, slowly leaning over towards the edge. "Kari, hold on!"

Just as she began to slip, before any of them could even reach her, a figure dashed in a grabbed onto her waist. Kari felt her face smash  
into a hard, warm object.

Everyone released a relieved breath and continued to gawk at the scene relatively dumbfounded.

Kari looked up, her bright steel-blue orbs staring into dark depths of her savior.

"U... Uchiha?" she said aloud, unable to make sense of the young man's appearance.

Sasuke merely grunted, appearing as cool and impassive as ever and acting that saving her dear life wasn't a big deal. Perhaps it was because she was still a little intoxicated, a little shaken by her near death experience, but she couldn't help but stare at him with a gaze of reverent awe.

Sasuke quickly picked her up and carried her back to their friends. Plopping her indifferently onto the ground, Sasuke asked, "Was that so hard to do?"

Ignoring the Uchiha's curtness, Sai asks her, "Hi-chan, how are you feeling? Are you okay?"

She considered the question for a brief moment. "I feel... funny."

"Oh? How so?" the dark-haired artist asked.

"Oh, I think I know what you mean! Being saved by this teme could leave anyone pretty nauseous!" Naruto said cheerily, slapping the stoical Uchiha on the shoulder.

"Hn. Like you could do any better. By the time you reacted, she would have died and Kakashi would have killed all of us."

"I wouldn't have! I was all over that!"

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, infuriating the blonde Uzumaki even further.

As the two continued to bicker and argue, Sai merely watched the Kikuchi's face. He couldn't help, but notice it seemed a little green.

"I suggest everyone move away."

Before any of them could react, Kari bent off and retched, releasing bile over Sasuke and Naruto's feet. Both boys froze in their places, unable to look down to see Kari's lovely present.

Wiping her mouth with a towel, Sai ordered, "Alright, everyone, get to cleaning. God knows how much time we have until Kakashi-san gets here. As for you, Sasuke and Naruto... the restroom is the next door on your right.

Everyone then dispersed, the girls rushing to tidy the place up while two boys raced each other the bathroom.

\\=x=/

The doorbell resounded, signaling the return of a certain white-haired teacher.

With a smile on his face, Sai opened the door. "Oh hello there, Kakashi-san. How pleasant it is to see you."

"Yeah, sorry for taking so long. The meeting went a little longer than expected." Kakashi promptly entered the house, his single orb languidly examining his surroundings. "Well.

Everything looks like it is in it's place. Nothing seems broken."

Sai inquired, "Why would you wonder that?"

"Well, Naruto and all them were coming to pay Kari a visit so I had a premonition of some sort of chaos. Nothing happened when they came, did they?"

Sai's face remained impeccably serene. "Of course not. Everything was just fine. They left right after they saw she was still breathing."

Kakashi considered his words for a moment. "I'll go check on Kari then."

Sai nodded his head and followed the white-haired towards her room. Inwardly he was simply relieved.

'_What excellent timing..._'

They all had been absolutely frantic about cleaning the place up, and Sai made sure that Kari stayed in her bed. After everything was in its place and in relative order, Sai pushed everyone out, fearing another catastrophic disaster would arise.

By the time they arrived in Kari's room was shrouded in relative darkness. Only a single stream of afternoon light filtered through the curtains.

Kakashi glanced incredulously at the young man, "You actually got her to stay and fall asleep?" Sai nodded his head, proud of that simple accomplishment. Kakashi neared the sleeping Kikuchi's form, quietly saying, "Kari, I'm home."

"Uncle, I have a splitting headache!" she groggily moaned, momentarily lifting herself from unconsciousness.

"Yeah, I'd think so... You must have a splitting headache because you're so sick. I'll go make you some ramen, okay?"

Kari failed to hear him, falling immediately back to sleep. The two young men then exited the girl's quarters, gently shutting her door to a close.

The dark-haired male turned a deceptively cheerful face towards the instructor saying, "See? She's just fine! Nothing to worry about, right?"

"Hm… yes, I suppose so," Kakashi said airily. He turned a languid glance towards him. "I had a feeling you would take care of everything before I got home."

Sai's fake, cheery face melted away from his countenance and fell completely stoical. "...you knew?" Kakashi lazily nodded his head. "How?"  
"Let's just say that the girl has a really loud set of lungs. Hard to miss her dangling off her own balcony and making a complete fool out of her drunken self."

Sai inwardly twitched at the statement and knew that his luck just wasn't that good. "When did you get home then?"

"My meeting ended early actually. When I saw Kari's little stunt, I gave you all a few minutes to get everything cleaned up," said Kakashi. "Let's just say I also won't be as lenient if any of you get her drunk again. I'm the one who has to deal with her hangover the next day."

"It's not my fault that Naruto is so horribly misguided," Sai grumbled in mild annoyance. Suddenly he was struck with remembrance. "...Kakashi... Are you really going to do 'it'?"

"Of course. That was what the meeting was about. I managed to persuade Tsunade to approve it. She finally thought it would be an enriching experience."

"Yes, I know, but still..." The dark-haired artist, glanced over towards Kari's door. His orbs were slightly dulled and glazed. Kakashi immediately understood.

He said, "You're worried about her and how she'll react, aren't you?"

The young man chuckled wryly. "Of course. How couldn't I? She's going to kill you once she hears what you have planned."

"I believe I can handle her... especially if it would help her move on."

"That's still not going to save you from her ire," Sai argued.

"Or her grief."

The young artist fell completely silent. The white-haired man slowly cracked the door open and glanced inside. Kari looked so calm and serene as she slept, innocently unaware of the surprise Kakashi was going to drop on her.

'_She's going to need her rest, especially with what I've got planned for..._'

**

* * *

A/N Notes:** Sick Kari + alcohol = the deadliest weapon this earth has ever seen. lol

This chapter was kind of a fun, filler chapter, and more of my poor attempts at some comedy. I'm trying! ^^;

This also is just one of two or three more sick days I'm planning on doing. When are they coming and what will they be about? You just have to wait and see!

But I'm kinda excited. The next arc is one of those few where the drama starts cooking, we get some more background on Kari... and possibly some more Sasuke and Kari scenes. ^^

So thanks for reading! Reviews as well as other feedback would be appreciated!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**Entering- Field Trip!**

'_So boring…_' Sasuke thought in his mind, repressing a yawn. Kakashi continued droning on about the current novel they were reading in that languid, lackadaisical tone – a lazy cadence that could put anyone to sleep.

He, of course, remained awake, occasionally jotting down notes to feign that he was actually paying attention.

His seating partner reacted otherwise. He glanced over to Kari to see her novel shielded her as she rested her head on her arm, deep in a dreamy slumber.

'_She really _is _a moron, isn't she?_'

He wondered how she could possibly maintain even an average mark if she persisted to sleep through every lesson. Of course, he never knew. Naruto acted similarly and nearly failed the last quarter. Shikamaru did the same and managed to get a perfect score. He didn't know her grades, but he was sure Hikari was _not_ a female version of Shikamaru.

"And now, class, I have an announcement to make," Kakashi shouted in a booming voice. He plopped the book onto his desk with a loud thud, arousing two tired scholars from their naps. Naruto jumped up from his seat and yelped at the sudden din. Kari simply raised her silver head, tiredly rubbing her eyes and quietly complaining how she was having such a good dream. Shikamaru failed to stir in his sleep.

"It's nothing to get all excited over, but I was thinking since I know _everyone_ is enjoying the book we are currently reading," he began, pointedly glancing at two of Sasuke's contemporaries with blonde and silver hair, "It would be nice to have a little field trip to see the area that inspired the setting of this novel."

Everyone gasped. Kari's steel-blue orbs widened. Everything fell into a startling hush.

"No way…" She murmured, her eyes sparkling.

A harmonic sound of cheers exploded in the classroom; all were clearly ecstatic over the very thought of it… except a dark-haired boy who truly cared less. His forced seating companion rocketed out from her seat and shot her arms up in the air. "Yes! **Field trip! Field trip!**"

'_Does she know how to lower her voice?_' Sasuke wondered, sneering at the jubilant female for nearly breaking his eardrums with her shouting. '_It's not even that big deal._'

"Kikuchi-san, please remain seated. Class is not over yet," the white-haired instructor ordered her sternly. With a bright grin still plastered on her face, Kari conceded and plopped herself back in her seat.

Naruto then exclaimed his query, "So where are we going, Kaka-sensei?"

The white-haired man turned his lazy, black iris towards the elated blonde, his electric blue orbs sparkling with anticipation.

His one visible eye curved into a cheerful arc, denoting a smile was spreading under his mask. He replied, "Our field trip this year will be in… **Misawa**!"

The class then burst into another round of exhilarated cheers, all now jumping up from their seats.

"I heard Misawa is simply pristine!" One classmate said joyously.

"It's simply glorious!" Another swooned. "I always heard this school had the best field trips ever!"

The impassive Uchiha simply rolled his eyes at the general enthusiasm… before noticing his one side was eerily silent.

'_Is she just yelling so loudly that I lost all hearing in my one ear or what?_' He wondered, using his peripheral vision to glance over to her.

Her overall complexion blanched; her usually rosy cheeks were drained of all color. Her hands gripped her novel tightly, trying to stop herself from shaking any more violently. Her gaze was almost blank, staring out into vacant space. All of her original euphoria seemed to evaporate into thin air.

'_What the…?_' Of all people, he expected Hikari to be the most euphoric, jumping up and down spastically at the very prospect of going _anywhere_. It was… abnormal – completely uncharacteristic of her to act so somberly. He didn't know why, but such a sight disturbed him.

Soon, Kari separated herself from the desk, walking with shaky steps towards her instructor. With her complexion so pale, he thought she was some phantasmal wraith.

Everyone seemed much too preoccupied by his or her mini celebration to notice Kari's haunted demeanor – all except Sasuke.

He strained his ears, trying to dismiss the annoying prattle of his contemporaries, trying to hear her soft voice.

"Kaka-sensei, is it mandatory for everyone to go?" Kari asked gently, almost a near whisper. "Can't I just… stay here or something?"

This caught the curious Uchiha's attention. Why would Kari want to stay? It was **Misawa** for god's sakes. Even the Uchiha genius heard the location was astounding – divine really. Any normal person would die to go there.

Kakashi firmly replied, "I'm sorry, but everyone must go. Even if I could leave you here, there's no one there to take care of you. Sai is coming as well. You'd probably die from starvation or neglect if I left you alone."

"Please, Kakashi. I'll be fine by myself. I can handle it if I really put my mind to it," she implored almost… desperately?

"We'll speak more of this once everyone's out of here, Kari. Either way, you **will** go. That much is certain."

Kari nodded her head, forlornly shuffling her feet back to her designated desk. She dropped her head into her hands, her breathing irregular.

'_Why did Kari look so worn? What was so bad about Misawa?_'

She lifted her eyes from her hands, gazing intently at the desk. Her eyes were glassy, glistening iridescently as liquids pooled into her eyes.

'…_What's wrong with Kari?_'

Just before Sasuke built up the courage (and swallowed his pride) to interrogate his seating partner, the grating blare of the bell sounded. Bodies rushed out from the classroom, dragging the Uchiha along with them. He allowed the crowd to drag him along, his gaze intent on the girl with teary steel-blue eyes.

/=x=\\

"I still don't understand why it has to be mandated!" Kari cried in the empty classroom as she stood defiantly before her uncle. "It's not even that great. I mean, most of the kids would probably be getting drunk or frying their skins off in those lobster baths they call hot springs."

Kakashi calmly rebutted, "May I remind you that those 'lobster baths' were your absolute favorite thing about Misawa."

Her body visibly tensed for one moment and dropped her gaze. That simple reminder _stung_ her, striking right to her heart. She muttered quietly, "And I still do adore them… I'm just not ready to go back, at least not yet…"

The white-haired male crossed his arms over his chest and chided her,"You said you weren't even ready to go back to school because of the incident and look where you are? If I don't give you a nudge towards the right direction, how else could you be ready?"

"Well mandating it for school is surely not the way to do it!" Kari sniffled, dropping her gaze to conceal her rushing tears.

"Aw, Hi-chan… It's all for the best. You know that," he comforted softly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I just want you to move on. It's been a long time."

She unconsciously winced, as if his words and the memories were physically painful. It stabbed into her soul like a dull knife – slow and excruciating.

With a sharp inhalation of air, Kari quickly wiped her eyes and deliberated calmly, "Fine. I'll go only because it mandatory. I just won't like it one bit."

Her guardian simply nodded his head. "Listen, I really am sorry, but it's for your own good. You know that, right?" Kari absently nodded her head, her gaze fixated on the floor. "Well, you better go to class. I don't want you to be even later than you probably are now."

With a curt bob of her silver head, Kari quickly stormed out of the room, reveling in the sanctity of the empty hallways. Her breath was uneven. Small whimpers rushed from her throat. Her vision slowly grew bleary with tears.

This was all too much for Kari to process. Her mind was in a near tizzy with the influx of memories – all much too agonizing for her to think about.

Her whole body quivered as she shuffled her feet to her next class.

'_Calm down, Kari… You can't cry here at school of all places,_' she told herself, wiping away rebellious drops of tears. '_I promised I wouldn't cry anymore. It's not like it could bring any of them back…_'

A low gasp erupted from her throat, causing her body to quake with more ferocity. Beneath her, her knees wobbled and threatened to buckle and collapse. Kari stood next to her classroom door for a few moments, her hands grasping her arms tightly. She bit down on her bottom lip, preventing another cry from escaping her lips.

'_Calm down, Hikari. Pull yourself together…_'

After controlling her breathing to a more tolerable level and her overall disposition, she drew in another calming breath before opening the door and stepping inside.

/=x=\\

Unfortunately, Sasuke was unable to gather enough strength to get Kari to answer him and discover what her problem was. His curiosity was unquenchable.

That curiosity proved to be unbearably irritating. He tried pacifying his inquisitive spirit by concentrating on simple tasks like schoolwork and his studies. No matter how much he pored over the textbooks, tuning out incessant chatter that prattled around him, his eyes eventually roved towards Kari.

'_So annoying_,' he mused bitterly as he stood at the lunchroom's doorway, invisible behind the protective cover of a tall green plant, studying the Kikuchi.

No matter how hard Kari wanted to hide it, there was something bothering her. She was almost a shadow of her former self, the person that annoyed him to no end. Her eyes were a dull gray, slightly riddled with red veins. All smiles and laughter she shared with her small circle of friends… were fake.

'_Damn it… Curse that Kikuchi._' He inwardly scowled, cursing his inquisitive nature and Kari for deciding now to shut her loud trap.

Something was troubling Hikari… and whether Sasuke was willing to admit or not, he was dying to discover why.

/=x=\\

Days passed and finally the day had arrived: the trip to Misawa.

Kari nearly dreaded it, mentally counting down the days as if it marked her demise.

'_Okay, Kari… it's just one week there. It won't kill you. You can do this,_' she told herself, inhaling a copious amount of oxygen before pushing it right out.

With two bags in tow – one hung on her shoulder while the other she dragged behind – she ambled her way towards her friends.

"Hey, guys!" Kari said cheerfully, trying to extricate some cheerful energy in her dismayed body. "Are you guys ready for the trip?"

"Oh yeah! We totally are…" Sakura's joyful interjection died at her lips. Her emerald eyes widened along with Hinata and Ino's orbs. Even Naruto, who came over to greet them, was rendered speechless.

With her smile becoming weaker, nervous under their gaping eyes, she inquired, "Um, is everything alright, guys? Is something on my face?"

No response. A small breath of air brushed her long, gray tendrils.

"Uh… guys? You're all kind of scaring me here."

"Kikuchi Hikari, what do you think you're wearing?" Ino spat out, her bright blue orbs horrorstruck.

Surprised by the remark, Kari swiftly surveyed her attire. With a relieved exhale of air to see her blue sweatpants and white t-shirt were unblemished, she simply replied, "Well since I heard it's going to be a long ride, I decided to dress comfortably."

"I can understand comfort, but you're nearly drowning! Those are the baggiest clothes I've ever seen!" Ino cried, tentatively touching the fabric as if it was tainted with the plague.

"Do you usually dress like that?" Sakura asked, trying to ease her shock away from her countenance.

"Well… I guess. I always preferred anything with pants over that skirt atrocity we must wear at school."

"But I think I have to agree with Ino," Hinata mumbled under her breath. "Those seem a little… big on you."

"Of course they are! Anyone with eyes can see that!" The blonde shouted. "She's so thin, and she decides to pile these loose-fitting pieces of clothing. It's sacrilegious I say! Pure and unacceptable blasphemy!"

"But I guess it's refreshing to see another girl that chooses to refrain from wearing skirts! It's a good change," Naruto beamed, comforting the disgruntled female.

"Do you have a problem with girls wearing skirts?" ominously growled a pink-haired girl and a blonde, both sporting said garments.

"No! Of course not! It just makes Kari seem a little more original. That's all!" he swiftly clarified. His words sadly did not save him from a dual punch to the face.

"JERK!" The two girls yelled, angry nerves pulsating from the pallid temples. Poor Naruto mumbled his apologies, rubbing his reddened cheeks with his hands.

"Anyway, back to _your_ problem, Kari," Ino said, wiping her hands from the deed. Kari merely raised a skeptic brow, finding her current situation rather problem free. Ino added, "You are walking fashion emergency! You better not tell me you have similar articles of clothing in your suitcase."

"What if I do? I can dress any way I want to," the silver female retorted defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, I refuse to let that happen! When I can, I'm going to find you better clothes in my suitcase impromptu of this fashion blunder!"

"Oh no! By what you're wearing now, I already have a good idea what your wardrobe consists of. If it's not pants, I refuse to wear it!"

With a scheming smile on her face, Ino simply said, "We shall see, Kikuchi Hikari. We shall see."

Kari swallowed a large lump that blossomed in her throat, holding her bags close against her body, fearing that all pieces of clothing would be replaced with the very article she despised.

"Well, we should get inside the bus!" Naruto announced, already running towards his bus. "See you guys there!"

After a quick exchange of goodbyes, the small cluster separated. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata rushed towards a different bus while Kari ambled right behind them, her movements slow and deliberate.

'_I don't really have a choice about going to that place, but I can take my time walking to the bus. No problem with that._'

"Ah! Lookie here!" A voice exclaimed, raising her gaze from the smooth concrete upwards. "I always knew you were a boy!"

"Sai, shut up!" Kari cried, hitting Sai right in his arm. "Just because I'm wearing this, doesn't mean I'm a boy."

"But you must admit, those are pretty baggy clothes. You could have fooled me," Sai teased. A pair of deep gray-blue orbs whirled in a perfect circle. "Anyway, will you be alright? Boys and girls are separated to two different buses. It wouldn't be very fun if the other students saw you leap out the window or perform some other, lunatic act of suicide."

"I won't die on the bus there, Sai! I'll be fine," she assured him. "I think the only ones that would be most dismayed by the arrangement is the fan girls. Oh my goodness! They must be bawling their poor eyes out to know they're away from chicken-butt head!"

Sai chuckled in response. "Well at least you still have some sense of humor, Hi-chan! See you there."

"Yep, see ya there, Sai."

The two soon separated, stepping inside the bus. Kari seated herself comfortably in the backseat by herself, resting her head against the cold glass window. Her whole demeanor was silent, her lips refusing to utter a single word. Most of the girls respected her privacy and left the nervous Kikuchi to sit in peace.

'_Just one step at a time, Kari. There's no reason to lose it just driving up there,_' she comforted herself as the bus lurched forward, speeding through the streets. '_I can totally make it through this at least._'

Her steel-blue orbs remained fixated out the window, watching the city scenery whirl into an autumn forest – feeling an influx of memories slowly travel towards the forefront of her mind…

/=x=\\

"Kari-chan, wake up. We're here," Sakura gently coaxed her, watching as pale lids lifted to reveal tired watery gray orbs.

Kari yawned, rubbing her eyes as she asked, "What do you mean by that, Sakura-chan? Where are we?"

"Ah, you can't be _that_ forgetful, Kari," interjected a blonde Yamanaka. "Just look outside."

Still disoriented, Kari conceded and turned her tired eyes towards the freezing glass.

She immediately woke up and stared. Greeting her upon her arousal were trees, swaying with the slightest breeze, sprinkled with spots of scarlet, gold, and orange. She had suddenly been teleported to a simpler world, a world she never expected to see for a long time.

'_No way… We're here already?_' Kari grimaced, lifting her sleepy body from the leather upholstery and behind the decreasing queue.

She was the last to leave the bus, slowly stepping down to the cold, grassy soil. Ribbons of golden light filtered through the passing clouds, attempting to warm to cold earth.

Kari swallowed, gaping at her surroundings. '_Nothing has changed… Its even more beautiful then I remembered…_'

Though deep in her heart, she would much rather be there during spring than autumn. Memories of cherry blossoms fluttered through her nostrils, filling her with its sweet, fresh scent.

She quickly shook her head, dispelling such bliss from her thoughts. Allowing such simple, lovely memories to flow through her mind always brought sharper memories – the very ones she suppressed to the very corners of her mind.

"Did you enjoy the ride here, Hi-chan?" Sai asked, suddenly appearing before her.

"I wouldn't know. I was asleep for most of it," she replied, exhaling a tired yawn. Suddenly her gaze became thoughtful, absorbing her surroundings with a wistful sigh.

Sai quietly noted, "It's been a rather long time since either of us has been here, hasn't it?"

Kari nodded her head, swallowing a large lump wedged in her throat. "Yeah, it has."

"Well, do you need help with your luggage? I can carry a bag for you if you'd like," Sai offered courteously.

"No thanks. You have enough bags to worry about…" Kari pointedly glanced behind the raven-haired artist, seeing lines of suitcases sitting idly behind him. Her silvery blue orbs reverted back to his dark orbs. "Seriously, Sai. What did you do? Bring your whole house with you?"

The dark-haired artist simply smiled and said, "Well you can never be too careful. I like to know that I'm always prepared."

"Of course…" Steel-blue orbs whirled in a perfect circle.

"Hey, we're going in to get our rooms." Both heads turned at the voice. Sasuke suddenly emerged out of thin air, standing before them with his customary scowl.

"Oh yes. Of course." Sai nodded his head. He grabbed his bags, hastily whispering in her ear, "You'll be fine, Hi-chan. No worries."

Kari nodded his head in thanks, watching as Sai's silhouette slowly disappeared in the sea of students and other bodies. '_No worries, Hikari… No worries…_'

"Yo, Kikuchi, do you have issues?"

Kari nearly jumped at the sudden accusation, the very nature of the inquiry. Maybe she was more shocked by the person who asked her such a question.

She blinked once, staring at the sullen Uchiha with confused eyes. Remembering his question, she immediately went on the defensive. "What makes you think I have a problem, Uchiha?"

"Well, I assumed it was obvious. This is _you_ I'm talking about here." Kari merely responded with an angry scowl. "Come on, Kikuchi. Spill already. What issues are you having now?"

Kari remained firm in her refusal and huffed, "Even if I did have a problem, which I assure you I don't, it would be none of your freakin' business!" She suddenly found her attention attracted to the floor as she added quietly, "Besides, there are just something things that are supposed to be left in the dark…"

Everything at the moment remained pristinely silent. She then turned her head, examining Sasuke's face for his reaction. She wasn't really expecting much. Sasuke's expression was unreadable as always, void of any, if not all, emotion.

"Hn." Before Kari knew it, Sasuke suddenly took her luggage captive, rolling it alongside his own. "I never heard anything more ironic."

She ignored such a statement and demanded, "Hey! Where are you doing with my stuff? You can't just take it!" She tried lunging forward, but Sasuke already predicted her moves. He evaded her attempt with ease, making her fall right on her face. "Uchiha, I'm not kidding! Don't you know…"

"Kikuchi, don't _you_ know that your own name means light?"

She was suddenly was suddenly speechless. All she could do was stare at his eyes, his cold and penetrating gaze. With another grunt, Sasuke turned his head and continued walking forward into the inn.

Kari shook her head and jumped back to her feet. "Hey, you! I'm not done with you, teme! Come back here!"

She then ran after him without any regard for her surroundings, carelessly pushing through roves of students to reach the Uchiha.

"Give me back my…!" Suddenly, her pace slowed once she reached inside. She casted a cursory glace around her surroundings. She recognized the interior almost immediately.

'_Come on! We're staying in this inn of all places? I'm going to kill Kakashi when I find him!_' Suddenly, a cold wave of remembrance chilled every inch of her body. She stood frozen in her place. '_And if we're in this inn, it's still likely that he could still be…!_' She yelped at the thought and scrambled into the crowd of people, her senses on high alert.

She kept her fingers crossed. Perhaps the inn had new management. Yes, perhaps someone else took over the place, and the that person left!

'_Or better! Maybe he died!_' she thought hopefully, nearly resorting to hiding on her knees. '_…Nah. I'm not that lucky._'

"Now if the first group follows me, I'll be showing you all where your rooms are," a voice spoke up, quite very unfamiliar… _female_ even.

Kari shot to her feet and felt her heart surge with joy. She rushed forward to the front of the crowd to see that a young, female worker guiding the boys to their rooms. Her body immediately relaxed, almost laughing at herself. What was the matter with her? There was no need for her to be so nervous and anxious! There was no need to worry…

'_And yet… why do I still feel like something is off?_'

"And my sempai here will guide the other group to their rooms. Right, sempai? Sempai?" The young employee turned her head to the side, regarding her mysterious senpai in curiosity.

Kari foolishly turned her head as well. Her body suddenly tensed, her steel-blue orbs locking onto a familiar pair of blue. She could barely breathe. That blonde hair, those eyes… It couldn't be! She wasn't that unlucky!

The young man merely stared at her, his expression dumbfounded. "K… Kari? Kikuchi Hikari, is that really you?"

'_**Crap.**_' Without a single word or thought, Kari quickly dashed back into the crowd and ran. '_Gotta get away! Gotta get away!_'

She wasn't fast enough. Before she knew it, a pair of arms captured her, pulling her into a warm, uncomfortable surface.

"Oh, Hi-chan! It's been forever! I've missed you so much!" the young man cried, holding her in a tight, affectionate embrace. "Welcome back to Misawa!"

"Gah, _baka_, let me go! You're too close to me!" she scowled, struggling to free herself from his grip with no avail.

"K…Kari-chan?" Kari stopped flailing and looked, seeing her friends stare at her current disposition with confused eyes. Even Sasuke stared her.

She simply mentally cursed, fighting the rising heat of embarrassment coloring her cheeks. '_…yep. This field trip was a _very _bad idea…_'

* * *

EDITED A/N Notes: My apologies to everyone, but after careful consideration I am putting this story on hiatus. Perhaps one day I shall pick this story back up. It still has a special place in my heart. But due to the things that happen in real life and my own fickle interests, I am holding this story off.

Thanks to those who support this story. All your support and reviews mean so much to me.

Thanks for the read!


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